Zemblanity
by kathaka9
Summary: Zemblanity- the inevitable discovery of what we would rather not know, the opposite of serendipity. "Magic is neither good or evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil."
1. The luck of the draw

At first, Marinette was unsure as to how to react to the strange Ladybug creature currently flying in the center of her room. However, she figured screaming at it was probably the best course of action. After all what else were you supposed to do if you came home to find a floating- bug, rat, bugrat, in the middle of your bedroom? Really any sane person would've screamed and tried to kill or trap the creature. Of course, she didn't actually attempt murder, that would've been mean and also meant she would have to approach the bugrat, so no thanks. She looked at the strange creature. Okay, seriously what was going on here? It wasn't every day you came home to find a strange bug creature floating in your room, in fact, she was almost certain that it had happened to exactly zero people before her.

The bugrat smiled at her, therefore prompting louder screaming. It cringed and floated closer towards her causing her to pick up a sewing needle as a makeshift weapon. Sure she wasn't very good at fighting, let alone with a sewing needle, but in her defense, they were sharp and could probably poke the bug rat's eye out. That would teach it for entering her room. She was Marinette Dupain Cheng, she wouldn't be frightened of a bugrat, she thought determinedly to herself as she continued to cower in a corner with the needle held out in front of her like a sword.

"Oh sorry, I didn't think this form would scare you so much," a high squeaky voice exclaimed. Had that come from where she thought it had, she wondered as she stared at the bugrat. Could bugrats talk, was this some kind of rare genetic mutation she was unaware of. Could all bugrat's talk? No, she had to be dreaming right. She figured that she must've fallen asleep at her desk again while sketching, her sleep schedule was strange it made sense. She was probably just in a strangely vivid dream about talking bugrats'. Wow, she had a creative imagination, she thought.

There was a flash of pink light and suddenly a girl with long red pigtails stood in the bugrat's place. Okay, this had to be a dream she thought. There is no such thing as floating bugrats which turn into human girls. The now human bugrat actually made for quite a pretty girl. She wore a ruffled red dress with cute little red mary jane's too match. To keep up with the weird ladybug thing she'd had going as the bugrat she had black tights on along with black gloves. Now that she was looking at what was, in fact, a human girl she noticed the bright blue eyes she'd had as the bugrat. Okay, she was beginning to doubt the dream theory given how vivid it was as well as the fact she kept questioning whether it was a dream or not.

"My name is Tikki," she greeted as she held out her gloved hand with a bright smile on her face. At least she could stop calling the girl bugrat Marinette thought as she shook her hand. It was certainly a strange experience shaking the hand of a girl who had previously been a flying bugrat. She had half a mind to begin screaming again. It was the kind of thing that came directly out of a dream rather than real life, yet here it was. Probably happening. Right in front of her. The bugrat Tikki, looked slightly concerned for her as Marinette gazed at the bug, rat, girl open-mouthed in a state somewhere between confusion and shock.

"I'm Marinette," she replied nervously. Why was she talking to a dream she wondered as she stared at Tikki. There was something about Tikki that made her seem to have a slight pink glow to her under the sunlight. As well as the pink hue that surrounded the girl she somehow gave off a vibe of kindness and calmness despite the situation not exactly being one that encouraged calmness.

"I already know that silly," Tikki giggled. Okay, she had to be dreaming right? There was absolutely no way in hell that floating bug lady had known her name before she told her herself. It was impossible, more impossible than the floating bugrat mysteriously turning into a human girl. Okay, so the day-no dream was full of impossible situations.

"How," Marinette just barely managed to utter. This was insane, completely and utterly insane. Okay, two possible explanations to the situation- no three. Either she was dreaming, had gone insane or this was some kind of strange elaborate prank organized by her parents or Alya… most likely Alya. Yet, why would Alya go to the trouble of hiring a strange red-haired girl who glowed pink to pretend to be a bugrat as she broke into her room? Okay, even hearing that thought in her own head she knew that it sounded crazy. Alright, so not a prank then. It couldn't be a dream because she'd questioned whether it was a dream or not enough times to determine it wasn't one. Perhaps she'd gone insane she wondered, that would explain the magical girl apparition before her. Yet if that had happened wouldn't she know, also she wasn't exactly sure if she had the imagination to create this sort of crazy scenario.

"Do you want the short or long version," Tikki asked. Short or long version, of what? Alternate scenario, Tikki herself was insane. So she'd scaled the wall to her balcony and decided to make up some sort of elaborate story to trick her into going along with some government conspiracy. Okay, unlikely. Yet she didn't know how else to explain what was going on because it was kind of hard to accept it as reality.

"Long," she answered. She needed the answers before she could make any actual concrete conclusions about Tikki and the situation. She decided to allow Tikki to explain and reserve all of her judgments until the end. If Tikki's story made no sense then she'd have her answer she reasoned. That sounded like a good plan she thought.

"Alright, so where do I even begin," Tikki thought out loud.

"The beginning might be a good place," Marinette told her. Tikki laughed at the statement. She wrapped her arms around her middle to keep herself from doubling over in laughter. Marinette was pretty sure that her dumb comment hadn't actually been that funny but whatever.

"Alright, well as you already know my name is Tikki. It's kind of hard to start from the beginning for me because in truth I don't remember much of it, it did happen thousands of years ago. From what I do remember I found out I had magic when I met my partner Plagg who is also a magician."

Marinette was already lost and very very confused. What Tikki was saying made no sense for a number of reasons. For starters, while she wasn't a scientist she knew for a fact that it was impossible for a human to live a thousand years, it was hard enough to live to be over a hundred let alone a thousand! She was also pretty sure if Tikki was as old as she said she was she would not look like a young adult and would probably dress in more outdated clothes than the ones she wore. Then again if TV had taught her anything it was that looks could be deceiving. The Tikki being crazy theory was beginning to gain more merit especially given the fact that she had called herself a magician. For crying out loud, magic was nothing more than party tricks or illusions, it didn't actually exist. Sure Tikki could've just been a party magician but given the rest of her story, she very much doubted that that was the kind of magic she was talking about.

"Thousands of years old…. You don't look thousands of years old," she found herself saying. She wondered what kind of crazy response Tikki would have to the question, perhaps it would be more nonsense like her original tale was.

"Thanks," Tikki giggled, "it's the magic, it keeps me young." Alright, so Tikki had definitely lost her marbles. Seriously, magic was her excuse. Sure right, the magic that doesn't exist, sure. That's so believable. Seriously she could've chosen anything yet she chose magic! Yeah right!

"You do know that magic doesn't actually exist right Tikki," Marinette asked. Tikki had to know how insane she sounded right? Tikki raised an eyebrow as she looked at her with her head cocked to the side slightly.

"What do they teach you in schools these days? Surely they've told you about the gods and goddesses or the witch hunts," Tikki exclaimed sounding actually scandalized. Okay, so that was something reminiscent of the old person type. She did remember hearing about witch hunts but she never really learned the details surrounding that. And yeah sure they learned about gods and goddesses but those were myths. Myths! They weren't actually real.

"Gods, goddesses, those are myths Tikki," she told the girl.

"No they aren't those are magicians. I should know Marinette, I was one of them. All of the stories you thought the be myths or legends, me and Plagg lived. Those myths feel like so long ago now, I guess that they got distorted over time through the old-fashioned Chinese whispers used to tell them. But I know they are truths Marinette, I lived them. I lived through worship, through peace, war. Plagg and I- We lived through the attempted genocide of magicians. History is wrong Marinette."

Marinette didn't know what to make of that, Tikki's sudden rant had caught her off guard but it did, in fact, reveal things she never would've guessed about the girl. For starters she was surprised at Tikki's admission that she had once been a goddess, partly because she was about ninety-nine percent sure that she had never heard of one named Tikki, then again as she'd said history apparently got distorted through the 'chinese whispers' used to pass it down. She wondered if perhaps the Plagg she kept mentioned had also been a god. Perhaps she should look the two of them up Marinette thought as she mulled over Tikki's words. Maybe the tiki had something to do with Tikki? Wait- the rest of Tikki's words sunk in. She'd lived through the attempted genocide of magicians.

Was the genocide the witch hunts? She knew vaguely about them occurring but never knew anything solid about why they'd occurred. She'd heard in passing that thousands had been executed as witches, she wondered how many actually had been innocent. However, she couldn't help but wonder how the witch hunts had impacted Tikki. How many friends had she had die, that is if she were telling the truth. Oh, what was she saying, Tikki's whole story was absurd. How could she have possibly been alive during those time unless magic was- no. It was impossible….. She was beginning to doubt that.

"Anyway," Tikki continued as if she hadn't just ranted about genocide, "where was I, oh right! So magic, basically every human has magic within them but only magicians have it at a high enough concentration that it can be used. Magicians like me and you."

Magicians like me and you. The words played on repeat in her head. There was no way she had heard Tikki correctly. There was no way that she, Marinette Dupain Cheng, had magic. None of this made any sense, not even remotely. Nope, there was no way, nope. No way in hell. Magic, hah.

"You're insane, there's no way," she exclaimed as she flung a nearby pillow at the insane girl. Tikki just smiled and flicked her wrist stopping the pillow mid-air. Marinette screamed. Really who could blame her, who wouldn't scream upon witnessing a girl who had once been a bugrat magically stop a pillow mid-air and make it float there? In response, she ended up throwing more pillows at Tikki which she continued to stop in midair. Once she ran out of pillows Tikki dropped her hold on the pillows and gravity took over. Marinette put her hands over her mouth so that she wouldn't scream again. Her parents would probably grow concerned if they heard their daughter screaming bloody murder especially if they came up to check on her and found a mysterious insane pigtailed girl in her room. Yeah, that wouldn't exactly be a good idea. Right, don't scream she thought as she pressed her hands against her mouth in shock.

She knew without a doubt that Tikki's story had to have at least a semblance of truth to it. There was no other way to explain how she'd managed the trick with the pillows without magic. It was the only solution… but it was impossible? Wasn't it. Then again it had once been said that once you eliminate the impossible whatever remains however improbable must be the truth. Tikki was a magician, that was what remained. It was the only story that made sense in the weird twisted world. It explained Tikki's passion as she spoke about history. It made perfect sense at the same time as it made none at all.

Marinette felt like her world had been turned on its head. A magic bugrat who could shapeshift into a human girl was one thing, but her having magic of her own was an entirely different beast entirely. She could believe Tikki having magic especially given the shapeshifting and telekinetic ability but she couldn't believe that she herself had magic. Surely she would've known if that were the case?

"Marinette, I know this is sudden and confusing but I'm only here to help," Tikki assured her with a soft smile. She found herself taking comfort in Tikki's words. Sure the entire situation was insane but at least she had someone willing to help. "I'll stay with you and help you through this as much as I can but you must know that some things ahead I will not be able to help you with. It's hard to explain why because magic is complicated that way," she rambled. Marinette didn't really know what to make of the words. She wasn't sure if they even actually made sense. She had no clue what Tikki was talking about because what could possibly be coming? Paris had been a quiet and happy city for the entire time she'd lived in it, it wasn't like a supervillain was suddenly going to decide to attack the city… right?

Whatever the challenge Marinette was willing to accept it. Why wouldn't she when it opened her eyes to an entirely new world full of magic and wonder. She wanted to be a part of the magical world Tikki was offering even if she had no clue how to understand the situation at all. However, she knew one thing. She, Marinette Dupain Cheng, had magic and was up to the challenge of learning it.

* * *

Adrien sat alone in his room sprawled out on his sofa. He looked longingly towards the wall of windows and took in the outdoors. He seldom was allowed outdoors nowadays. Ever since the disappearance of his mother he hadn't been allowed outside unless it involved one of his many activities that overloaded his schedule and stressed him to the brink of insanity. All he wanted was to be able to enjoy the sun on his face, to be able to feel the wind in his hair. He just wanted to be able to go outside and live a normal life, but instead, he was locked up like a princess in a tower.

Ever since he was young, even when his mother was still around, he had been jam-packed with activities and things to do. None of them being things that normal children did. He was never allowed to do normal childhood things like playing in the park or going to school. Every time he had asked his parents always answered the same generic thing, "it's too dangerous." So what if it's dangerous he had always thought. Life is dangerous. Even if it was dangerous he would have the gorilla to protect him, and if that failed he'd be able to put his martial arts or fencing training to use he always reasoned. His reasoning never worked, he still always got told, "no it's not safe." He knew that. He knew that there was danger involved but it didn't matter to him. So what if it wasn't safe? He had a rock climbing wall in his room with nothing to break his fall if he did fall, but yeah the outside is so much less safe than that.

He knew that they had just been trying to protect him, that they only wanted what was best for him. He also knew that they didn't notice the eager looks he would have whenever he looked towards the outside. Nor did they notice his longing looks towards the children playing in the park with their parents as the Gorilla drove the limo past. It wasn't their fault that they didn't notice he wasn't happy being trapped all alone inside, they weren't there to wait on him hand and foot and they were just doing their best to ensure his safety he reasoned. Yet didn't they want him happy?

He sighed as he tried to push the pressing thoughts from his mind. Every time they came to the forefront of his thoughts he always remembered the moment when he had tried to tell his mother exactly how he felt about the issue. He would remember his biting words and her hurt expression as he accused her of not caring. He would remember her pained expression and the silent tears that fell down her cheeks as he stormed off to his room. He remembered yelling in the heat of the moment that he hated her. He never saw the aftermath of it, he never got a chance to apologize and tell her that he didn't mean it, that he loved her. The same day he had yelled at her she had disappeared as far as the world was concerned. Everyone told him her disappearance wasn't his fault but he always wondered if he hadn't yelled at her if she would still be here for him. He always wondered what it would've been like if his last words to her hadn't been "I hate you."

Ever since her disappearance Gabriel had grown cold and distant. He locked himself away in his study seldom coming out to talk to his son and only communicating with the rest of the world through a screen. Security had for Adrien had grown tighter and he wasn't allowed to be without Gorilla or Nathalie at any point in time. He figured that his father probably worried that he would disappear like she had and was just trying to hold on to him in his own way. However, the restrictions were growing too much for the teen. He just wanted to be able to go outside and get some fresh air by himself, but nope.

He let out a loud sigh as he stared at the trees that lightly banged against the windows. He watched as leaves were pulled off the branches and took flight in the wind then floated down to rest softly on the ground. He took in the dampened colours of the outside world. The brown of the tree branches, the green, orange and yellow of the leaves that flew through the wind. He felt a small smile form on his face as he watched the colours of the world however dampened by the glass windows flow in front of his eyes. He always loved watching the simple things in the world like the leaves coming free from the trees. It was so simple, so common, yet somehow it was beautiful.

He absentmindedly got up from the sofa and felt his legs carry him towards the towering windows that gave him a glimpse into the outside world. He felt like he was in a trance as he watched the way nature carried the leaves through the air and as he watched as the sun hit the leaves in just the right way to create a beautiful shadow pattern on the ground and the windows. Suddenly he was snapped out of his trance when he heard what sounded like a small meow coming from outside.

He shook his head, that was impossible. He knew it had to be. There was no way a cat could have snuck into the mansion's grounds unnoticed. Even if it had somehow made it in it surely would've been noticed straight away and immediately kicked off the grounds. He never knew why but his father had a very strong hatred towards cats and would do everything in his power to stay away from them. Adrien had tried asking once and had only been told something cryptic about cats not being safe. Shocker. They had claws, they had teeth but they were adorable. Secretly Adrien had always dreamed of owning a cat, a black cat to be specific. However, along with many of his childhood dreams, it had died because he knew that his father would never allow it.

Meow. This time it was much louder, much more desperate. That was definitely a cat's meow he thought as he tried to spot the source of the sound. It had to be coming from somewhere he reasoned, one doesn't just randomly hear the sound of cats meowing. There it was again, the piercing meow of the mysterious cat that had somehow made its way onto the manor grounds without alerting security. Then he saw it. A small black cat with large green eyes teetering on a thin branch of the tree closest to his window. The branch was wobbling under the cat's weight and threatened to break.

He looked at the cat in shock, what was it doing all the way up here. Didn't it have any sense? The cat meowed again and gave him a strangely human look that screamed let me in. How the cat had managed to pull off such a human feat Adrien didn't know. In a split second decision, he stood up on his tiptoes to open the window for the cat. The second it was opened the cat leaped through it and landed gracefully on the ground. Adrien walked over towards the cat and took in it's looks more closely. The cat appeared to be well groomed and taken care of so there was no way it could possibly be a stray from the streets. Yet it had no collar. Shouldn't cats have collars, he thought as he looked at the cat.

"I guess I should feed you or something," he mused out loud as he stroked the cat. The cat leaned into his touch and settled itself down on his lap in a way that told him he wouldn't be moving anytime soon. It didn't really matter much to him, he was finished with all of his activities for the day anyway so who really cared if a cat decided to nestle itself into his lap.

"Camembert, give me camembert," a nasally voice said suddenly. He looked around for the source of the voice but found none. He knew that logically there was no way the voice had come from the cat or from his small phone that lay discarded on the opposite side of the room. However, none of those facts answered the question of where the voice actually did come from. "Didn't you hear me kid? I said I wanted camembert," the voice said again sounding much more agitated than before.

Adrien flinched at the sound of the voice and cautiously looked around the room again. "Who's there," he yelled as slight panic slipped into his voice and ran through his body. There was no way he could be hearing an unexplained disembodied voice asking for camembert right? He heard a loud sigh and the cat jumped off of his lap. In flash of purple light, the cat was replaced by a man who looked no older than 30 years old. The man had messed up black hair that appeared to be more of a bird's nest than actual human hair. He wore a dark cat eared hoodie along with jeans and sneakers, but that didn't really help anything. Nothing could explain how the man had somehow replaced the cat that had been there mere seconds ago. "How- What- Who- What-" he stuttered out as he stared at the man.

"Okay, short version, my name is Plagg, I'm a magician, now give me cheese," the man- Plagg demanded. Adrien took in a deep breath as he tried to process the information that Plagg had given him, as sparing as it was. However, none of it made sense in his frazzled mind. Sure if they were in a children's cartoon series a cat turning into a human would make purrfect sense but they weren't. This was real life. In real life there was no magic, there was no shapeshifting, and there definitely wasn't any shapeshifting magic cats demanding cheese.

"I must be dreaming, magic doesn't exist," he exclaimed as he stared at Plagg again. It was the only logical explanation, even if he didn't remember going to sleep. Plagg cocked his head to the side as if to say seriously without actually voicing the words.

"How else would you explain me," Plagg asked as he turned around as if he were a model on a catwalk. He was the model here, he thought absentmindedly.

"A dream," he repeated. It was the only logical explanation. How else would a cheese demanding magic cat exist, his frazzled mind provided. However, he wasn't sure if he had the imagination to make this kind of thing up. Sure he knew that there was no way it could be real, but could he really have made it up either?

"Kid, this isn't a dream, now would you quit freaking out for a minute, get me cheese and let me explain," Plagg demanded as he folded his arms and put on his best attempt to look angry. If he was being honest an angry Plagg resembled grumpy cat surprisingly well, it was almost like they were the same person- cat. The same cat.

"I can't just order cheese Plagg, I'm a model, what I eat is managed," he explained to the strange cat human creature that had begun to wander about his room taking everything in. He sighed as he watched Plagg walked around the room as if he were an actual cat. He poked and prodded at almost everything and even attempted to eat a couple of stray objects. He probably would have too if Adrien hadn't yanked them out of the cat- human's paws-hands before he could.

Plagg just groaned as he walked around the room before he finally plopped himself down in an ungraceful mess on Adrien's sofa. "You have magic," he suddenly blurted out causing Adrien to freeze on the spot. What had Plagg just said? Adrien wasn't sure if he had heard him correctly. Had he really just said that he, Adrien Agreste, had magic? Five minutes earlier he hadn't even believed in the existence of magic and now he was being told by the magical cat creature that he somehow had it? No way.

"That's impossible Plagg," he exclaimed loudly as he tried to process the information. Magic. No. There was no way, it wasn't possible, magic wasn't possible. It didn't exist outside of fairy tales and movies, it didn't exist in real life. He couldn't possibly have magic.

"Have you lived under a rock your entire life kid, surely you've noticed that you can do things other kids can't?" Wow, that was blunt, Adrien thought as he took in Plagg's words. What did he mean that he could do things that other kids couldn't? He knew that his vision, hearing, and smell had always been better than most but his parents had always told him that he just had good genes that lead to those skills. There was no way that anything that set him apart was caused by magic. Sure he may have had more bad luck than most but that was just that, bad luck. It wasn't magic, nothing in his life was magical. Yet he guessed he had actually sort of lived his entire life inside away from most others his own age, with the exception of Chloe, so he had nothing to really compare too.

"Actually yes Plagg, I live trapped under several rocks that have been arranged in an architecturally pleasing way to create a house. I'm basically never allowed to leave my tower much less go and be around other children, so no Plagg. I haven't noticed I can do things other kids can't because I barely know any other kids. I've barely even met another child much less noticed differences between me and them."

To his surprise instead of scolding him for his sarcastic response like his father would've Plagg actually applauded him. He seemed almost impressed by his response, but despite the outer proud look that Plagg wore Adrien could see the pity in his eyes. He didn't want or need Plagg's pity, even if it hurt to always be alone he didn't need some crazy cat man trying to fix his problems. Last time he had attempted to amend the loneliness it had only ended in his mother- No. Don't think about that. Don't think about her. Not now, not when some cheese-loving cat man was telling him that he could do the impossible.

"Okay, so what do you know of magic then," Plagg asked.

"That it doesn't exist outside of fairy tales. This is real life Plagg not some story where I can wave a magic wand and all my problems will go away. This isn't a fairytale, magic doesn't exist." He choked on the last word. He would never admit it to Plagg but despite his insistence that it wasn't real a small part of him still held onto belief. It dreamed of a world outside of his own where he would be free to make his own choices. The childlike part of him had never let go of the hopes and dreams of fairies and dragons, the dreams of magic. Even though his parents had tried to hide books and fairy tales about magic from him Nathalie had always told him fairytales and lent him books about princesses and witches. Those moments were what had caused a small part of him to hold onto belief because if a duck could become a swan he could gain his freedom. However, as he had grown dreams of magic had faded and had almost blinked out like a light when his mother disappeared. If magic was real, she would still be here, he thought. However, a tiny part of him still believed no matter how much he didn't want to.

"Kid," he began then trailed off. It was clear that Plagg was trying to figure out what to say next. "Magic does exist. Look, everyone has a small amount of magic inside them, but magicians like you and me have more magic in their veins. It was caused by a mutation in genetics thousands of years ago, it's what gave rise to magicians. Magic users used to get praised as gods, for thousands of years we were, from the ancient Egyptians to the Romans."

Adrien chose that point to interrupt. It wasn't that he didn't want to hear the rest of Plagg's bizarre tale, but first magic, now gods? What was Plagg going to say next, that something insane like beer made of bumblebee tears was actually a thing? "I think you're mythtaken Plagg, those are myths and legends, not actual history."

"It's like a game of Chinese whispers as history went on the stories got more and more warped and forgotten until eventually, the world wrote them off as myths because there was no way anyone alive thought they were real. Now as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, magic users were praised for centuries until the 15th-century hit and people began to think we were too powerful, that people were using their magic for evil. Sure there were brief periods of time when humans would start thinking all magic was evil, usually when a disaster struck and turn against us but it was nothing like the 15th century. It was a massacre, only a small few of us survived, in fact, I think that only about ten of us survived them out of thousands. Of course, magicians can still come into being without the genetic pathway due to mutations but that is incredibly rare and they are usually killed before they turn five. You, Adrien Agreste have the magic in you, meaning that you are one of the only people alive who can wield magic. Pretty cool, huh?"

Adrien tried to process all of the information. On one hand, Plagg's explanation made a surprising amount of sense. He knew that genetics could mutate and be passed on and that sometimes mutations would occur and not show up, that sometimes it required more than one allele for a trait to become present in the phenotype. However, the idea of magic being passed down through genetics was a strange one. If what Plagg was saying was true and he had magic did that mean that he had inherited it from his parents? Did they have magic?

Plagg was a cat though. How did the cat have magic when most humans could barely wield it. Was it simply because cats, especially black ones were more inclined to magic? But then again it couldn't simply be linked to Plagg's catlike nature given that he had mentioned gods from the past being magicians. They all had magic too, but they seemed to have themed magic. What was that about?

"Wait, why are you a cat then?"

"Magic as a whole has no inclination towards good, evil or anything really. But when it's contained in a high enough concentration in a human body it takes on certain characteristics, the majority of the time being themed after a certain animal. The type of magic the user manifests depends on the user, who the user is determines what the magic is linked to, how it is used and even if they'll take after an animal. For example, my magic is themed around cats so I can shapeshift into a cat at will as well as being able to manipulate any negative force."

"That's really cool, so what kind of magic do I have," Adrien exclaimed despite himself. Despite his attempts to convince himself that this wasn't happening and that it was a dream he was hopeful. He felt like maybe his childhood dreams of freedom could finally come true if he had magic on his side.

"You have a very rare form of magic, I haven't seen anyone develop the powers of the black cat since Diana," Plagg explained. He briefly wondered if by Diana he meant to Roman goddess Diana. He had heard of a myth of her turning herself into a cat to escape someone so was that the truth then? Had Diana managed to develop the same cat-like powers as Plagg? Wait if she had cat-like powers, and Plagg had cat related powers did that mean that Adrien also had cat powers.

"I have cat powers like you, don't I," he asked tentatively. Plagg nodded to confirm his suspicions. While the idea of having magic should've been comforting to Adrien finding out exactly what his powers were was the exact opposite. It sent him into a mental panic and he struggled to retain his composure on the outside. If his magic was linked to the negative forces, did that make it evil? Adrien didn't want to be evil, he just wanted to be free. "I'm dangerous," he said with no further explanation as he curled up into a ball and wrapped his arms around his knees. He heard Plagg's footsteps behind him and saw another flash of purple light. Seconds later the small black cat with large green eyes was yet again sitting in front of him. The cat- Plagg, headbutted his legs repeatedly which even through his panicked breaths he found incredibly annoying. He uncurled himself just enough to be able to bat Plagg away so he could get back to his internal panic but before he could Plagg jumped up onto him and began to softly purr against him. He stared at the cat wide-eyed as his mind tried to connect the fact that the cat and the man who had stood before him minutes ago were the same person- cat?

"Magic isn't good or evil Adrien, it's what you decide to do with it that makes it so. If you don't want to be then dangerous then you won't be."

Plagg's words were comforting and they allowed his panic to recede as he slowly managed to get a hold of himself. So he had magic. It was dark magic. But the fact it was dark didn't make it bad. He was still good despite the seemingly dark magic inside of him, he could use it for good.

"So Adrien, are you ready to learn how to use it, or are you going to sit in fear of it using you?" Plagg asked as he leaped off of Adrien's lap obviously having sensed that the boy had calmed down. Adrien smiled as he pushed himself off of the floor. He beamed as he looked down at Plagg who was still in the cat form.

"Just you try and stop me."


	2. Let's rock n roll

When Marinette woke up that morning she assumed that the entire situation the day before had just been a dream. However, when she saw Tikki asleep on her chaste she knew that it wasn't. She wasn't entirely sure why Tikki had chosen to spend the night in her room because surely the girl had a life of her own that didn't revolve around Marinette. She guessed that Tikki had her reasons for deciding to stay in her room and it wasn't like Marinette really minded that much. After all, Tikki hadn't made a sound throughout the night. Just as long as her parents didn't find out she was housing a magic ladybug rat thing in her room. Then again… that was probably the last thing they'd expect.

She pushed herself up on her bed and looked around her room. Aside from the sleeping girl on her chaste everything was exactly as it had been the night before. She had vague memories of Tikki teaching her about magic and telling her vague and unhelpful crap like 'when the time comes for you to use it you'll know how to,' that didn't exactly help. Sure Tikki had told her in summary what her powers would likely be, mainly focussed on creation. Still, Tikki had been about as helpful as a brick wall when it came to learning her magic. Sure she provided background knowledge but nothing that actually would help Marinette.

She pushed the thoughts about magic and wonder out of her mind and went about getting ready for another day at school. Another day of having to put up with Chloe and her snide remarks. At least she had Alya now she thought. Alya had been her saving grace when she'd joined their class. They had been fast friends. Alya had been able to push her out of her shell and now because of Alya, she had more friends than ever before, even if her main two were still just Alya and Nino. The only person she couldn't be friends with, not that she wanted to, was the queen bitch, Chloe Bourgeois.

She threw on her clothes and fastened her hair into her usual pigtails. Once she was dressed she figured that she probably needed to wake Tikki so that her parents wouldn't walk into her room and find a strange girl instead of her. She walked over to Tikki who had her face buried in a pillow that had rested on the chaste. "Plagg," she heard Tikki say in an exasperated voice. She wasn't sure if Tikki was awake and had mistaken her as Plagg or if the magician was just sleep talking. She carefully shook the girl to try and gain her attention but Tikki just turned away from her.

"And you wonder why they want to kill us," she muttered. Marinette was slightly concerned hearing those words from her friend's (?) mouth. She knew that Tikki had told her earlier about how she and Plagg had been hunted for their magic and magicians had practically become extinct but still hearing hints to it surprised her. She heard the joking tone in Tikki's voice as she said the words but she knew that there was an underlying meaning to them given how the two of them had been hunted.

"I don't care if it was just the sphinx's nose," she exclaimed suddenly. What? She really wished she could understand the story better because of what? What she'd managed to gather from the disjointed fragments Tikki offered her was that Plagg was involved and something had happened involving the sphinx's nose. She knew that in actuality that the sphinx actually had lost its nose but had it been the fault of Tikki or Plagg? Then again Tikki could have just been dreaming.

She shook the girl harder hoping to wake her up. Even if she didn't want to admit it she really wanted to know what it was Tikki was dreaming about because it sure sounded interesting even if it was just a dream. Tikki jumped up suddenly switching forms into the weird bugrat creature. Marinette had to bite her tongue to avoid screaming at the sudden change. Tikki floated in front of her with wide eyes.

"Woah, it's okay Tikki. It's just me," she rushed to reassure the startled magician. Tikki looked at her and smiled brightly.

"Sorry about that Marinette," she said. Marinette just smiled at the girl…. Bugrat?

"Its okay Tikki, but just what were you dreaming about," she asked curiously. Honestly, she really wanted to know because it's not every day you hear people talking in their sleep about the sphinx. Especially people who would've actually been alive back when the Sphinx was first built.

"Just remembering the time Plagg broke the Sphinx," she said as if it were the most normal thing in the world. She didn't really know what to make of that. Whoever the Plagg Tikki kept mentioning had somehow managed to destroy the sphinx and Tikki had said it as calmly as someone would talk about the weather. Maybe Plagg destroying stuff was an everyday occurrence for Tikki?

"He broke the Sphinx," she echoed.

"Yeah, that and the statue of Zeus and Stonehenge though that had been with-" Tikki abruptly cut herself off. Marinette wondered what she'd been about to say. Who had Plagg destroyed Stonehenge with she wondered? Before she had much of a chance to dwell on it though Tikki continued. "Well, he's destroyed a lot over time. Of course, it was all 'accidental,'" she said with finger quotes around the word accidental. She found herself wondering more and more about Plagg. She wondered if he was a clutz like her and that was how he'd managed to destroy the monuments… wait no. Tikki had said it had been 'accidental' meaning it was purposeful. She wondered what the logic behind purposely destroying them had been. Maybe he'd been trying to send a message? Maybe he was doing it for fun? Really she couldn't say without knowing Plagg for herself.

* * *

"You broke the Sphinx," Adrien exclaimed after Plagg had woken up from his weird dream in which he'd continuously slept talked about breaking the sphinx. Adrien knew that it made sense especially given Plagg had said his powers did revolve around destruction and all but the sphinx? He'd broken one of Egypt's greatest monuments…. On purrpose!

"Hey, I said I was sorry," Plagg defended even though both of them knew he was lying. When Adrien turned away to pack his bag for the school he wasn't allowed to attend he heard Plagg heave a loud dramatic sigh. "Alright, I didn't. But kid, it wasn't like the sphinx was using it or anything," Plagg defended. Well, he had point there, Adrien thought. It was a statue it couldn't exactly smell anything. Unless magic had brought it to life like in the movies but he highly doubted it would've allowed Plagg to destroy its nose if that were the case.

"Yeah well- why did you destroy it anyway," Adrien asked. He turned back to Plagg who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not?"

* * *

There were limitless opportunities when it came to people with magic. Some could defy the rules of physics or even become gods. Others could even bend the rules of space-time if they tried hard enough. So why Adrien chose to use his to sneak out of his castle to go to school Plagg didn't know. He knew that the choice wasn't a bad one, it wasn't like he was going to go and take over Paris or anything. It was just school. It was far worse than taking over Paris as far as Plagg was concerned.

When he'd snuck out Plagg had instantly shapeshifted into a tiny cat-like being no bigger than 10 cm and dived into his bag before Adrien could do anything to stop him. If Adrien had asked he would've been told that his magic was unpredictable and that Plagg could help him control it and stop it going out of control. In truth Plagg just found that he liked the kid and wanted to stay with him, not that he'd ever tell Adrien that. However, Adrien didn't ask, nor did he question Plagg entering his bag in any form. He didn't really mind after all, what was a little extra weight in his bag in comparison to being able to go to school for the first time in his life?

He ran through the park and had the school in his sights. He relished in the feeling of his feet hitting the grass as he ran and the wind flowing through his hair. It didn't matter that he was kicking up mud from the night before or that his cheeks had turned a bright shade of red throughout his run. All that mattered was the feeling of freedom that coursed through his body. He felt weightless and like he could do anything, not even the burning in his legs or his mud-soaked shoes could slow him down. He felt like he was on a high, it was incredible. He smiled despite the air that was sucked from his lungs, despite the burning of his legs and despite what he knew would be a lecture from his father later. For now, the consequences of his actions didn't matter, what mattered was that he was free.

"Geez, kid. You get your first taste of magic and what did you decide to do with it? Go to a place where you will be locked up for hours and forced to study out of boring textbooks at," Plagg groaned from within his bag. He sighed, Plagg really didn't understand what going to school actually meant to Adrien. He knew that the content would be no different than what he was taught at home and he knew it meant sitting in a classroom for hours on end, but it also meant people. School meant friends, and friends were the one thing Adrien desired most in the world. Sure he sort of had Chloe but his time with her was always fleeting and a small part of him feared she only used him for his status. At school, there would be no worrying about that.

"You don't get it Plagg," he muttered dejectedly as the stairs of the school came into sight. They were only across the road, he could make it. "I've been locked up there for years, I can finally do something I want to." He got to the stairs and rushed up them. However, before he could reach the top he heard the familiar sound of the Agreste limo pulling up alongside them. Despite his burning desire to go to class, he felt his body come to a halt. His fears of getting into trouble quickly took hold of him and stopped him from being able to move. He stood there, petrified, as he watched Nathalie exit the limo.

He tensed as he watched her approach. His childhood fear of being yelled at or in trouble kicked in because he knew exactly how much trouble he would be in for what he had just done. By his father's standards him going outside alone, much less going to school, was akin to murder. It was quite ridiculous really, but ridiculous or not he would still have to face the wrath that was sure to be fired in his direction. He looked between Nathalie and the doors to the school, he was so close. If he could just get inside then she couldn't stop him, he could go to school. Except his feet were still betraying him, practically glued to the spot.

"Adrien, what do you think you're doing," Nathalie yelled at him. Despite the angry look in her eyes and the terrifying tone of her voice, she looked incredibly uncomfortable as she shifted from foot to foot. She had never needed to yell at him for anything of this scale before and he could tell she didn't want to. Yet she did.

"I just want to go to school like everybody else, what's so wrong with that?" He muttered the words quietly under his breath, he didn't even expect her to catch them. Yet when it came to him Nathalie was like a hawk. As a child, he had often sworn that she had some kind of sixth sense that told her whenever he was doing anything he wasn't supposed to. Broken model diet, she was there. Outside without permission, she was there. And now he was at school and she was there. No matter what he tried to do to evade her she would always be there, it was insufferable.

"You know what your father wants," she said firmly. He didn't know if she was replying to his muttered comment or if she was continuing on with what he presumed would be a long lecture about the importance of rules. He sighed, of course, he knew what his father wanted. He had lived under that roof for way longer than Nathalie had worked for Gabriel Agreste, he had grown up with him. Of course, he knew what his father wanted. He knew that his father didn't want him in school but for once it wasn't about what his father wanted. As a child he had almost always done exactly what his father asked of him, take up modeling, sure thing dad, fencing, you got it, model diets, sure whatever makes you happy. Every time he had danced when his father pulled the strings and he was sick of it. He had never once gotten a hint of praise for his efforts only the same stoic face on the screen.

"This is about what I want Nathalie," he yelled not caring who heard. The entire world could hear and he wouldn't care. For once he was taking his life into his own hands. He wasn't about to let his only chance at freedom go, no matter how afraid of the consequences he was. This was his chance at freedom, possibly his only chance at it.

"Don't you think I know that Adrien," she exclaimed as she took a step towards him. In response, he automatically took a step back and almost tripped on the stairs.

"Then if you know that why are you trying to stop me. It's not like I'm about to commit murder or anything," his whole body shook as the pent up anger inside of him was released. He was sick of being a puppet being able to do nothing but follow as the strings were pulled. He was a human being for crying out loud, his hopes and dreams should matter! Yet it seemed as far as his family was concerned they didn't if they conflicted with the stupid rules put in place to keep him 'safe.'

"You know why Adrien," she said, her voice almost sounding sad. However, Adrien knew better. She obviously didn't care if she had come to stop him. She knew how much he had always wanted to go to school, she had always known, yet she still wanted to stop him. His body tensed despite himself, he didn't know why. He didn't know why he felt so angry with her because he knew full well that she was only following his father's orders. Yet a part of him thought that paycheck be damned that she would actually give a crap about how he felt and what he wanted. Apparently, he was wrong.

"I don't care what my father wants, I'm not him. I'm Adrien Agreste and what I want is to just go to school," he exclaimed loudly. Before she could respond he rushed inside. Even though he knew that she could go inside after him he wasn't about to stop. He wanted to go to school, he wanted to be normal, nothing would stop him from doing just that. Not Nathalie, not Gorilla, not even Gabriel Agreste himself (that is if he could be bothered to actually leave the mansion to stop him). He stepped inside the doors with a smile, he was there, he was at school. Nothing could take that away from him. Nothing could spoil the moment he finally got to be a normal kid. Right?

* * *

Wrong. First, his first impression to his classroom was as he tried to pull gum off a girl's seat. Isn't that what nice people do, who wants to let the girl just sit on the gum. It wasn't like any of the others were going to step up so he chose to do it. Turns out he had made the wrong choice because the girl had thought that he was trying to put it on the seat despite his frantic reassurances that he wasn't.

Next, he had embarrassed himself with his complete lack of social graces by saying that he was present in class a bit over enthusiastically. His outburst had resulted in the entire class, along with Plagg who was still hidden in his bag, laughing at him. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and die, he thought that school was a place full of singing and joy, that's what it was like in the movies. But nope! It was full of confusion and people judging him. By lunch, Adrien felt like he might've been finally starting to understand his father's aversion to public school. Afterall as a famous model he constantly got stopped for autographs and photos. Not to mention the members of his class who kept glaring at him for his mistake with the girl.

Not to mention the fact that as soon as lunch ended a monster attacked the school.

* * *

He hadn't expected his first day of school to end with him sitting alone in the lunchroom with nobody but the magic cat in his bag to talk to. As much as he wanted to talk to Plagg, especially to get answers as to what had happened in the morning, he didn't want people to think he was weird. Majority of his class seemed to hate him and the rest of the students at the school were too starstruck to actually talk to him aside from asking for a selfie or autograph. He sighed, he just wanted a friend, even if it was just one. He knew Chloe called herself his friend but he didn't know if he could see her that way after watching how she treated the other students in the school. She would make fun of them and try to sabotage their efforts, he may not have known much about normal social interactions but he knew that what Chloe did to them wasn't normal, nor was it nice. He sighed as he leaned his head against the table. Maybe he should've just gone with Nathalie, maybe school really had been a bad idea.

He knew that he was going to be in a world of trouble when he got home and he couldn't help but ask himself if it was worth it. Was going to school worth the trouble it would cause him? It wasn't like he had succeeded in making friends, which really had been his only goal when coming to school. Even if he had just made one he would've been able to say that it was worth it. Yet he hadn't. Nobody was willing to talk to the model that had screwed up on his first day of school.

"Hey, is that seat free," he heard someone ask from behind him. He turned around to face the person. The person was a boy he knew to be in his class, it was the same boy who sat next to him and listened to music that seemed far too loud by Adrien's standards. Seriously, if Adrien could hear it through his headphones how had he not been deafened by it?

"Yeah, it is," he told the boy, Nino. His name was Nino he quickly remembered. He moved his bag to one side so that Nino would have more room to sit down. He gave him a grateful smile and took the free seat.

"I saw what you were trying to do for Marinette," he said a little awkwardly. Adrien recalled that Marinette had been the name of the pigtailed girl who he had tried to remove the gum from her seat. He expected to be told off for his actions like he knew the rest of the class wanted to do. Maybe Nino was about to yell at him over the action. Yet Nino just smiled at him and held out his hand. "Thank you for helping her even if she didn't realise you were trying too."

Adrien couldn't help but smile. Nino had known exactly what he'd done and he didn't hate him for it like he feared. Instead, he sounded almost proud, was that the word? Adrien didn't know if he had ever seen someone be actually proud before, he had seen the fake intent and pretend smiles sometimes complete with an approving nod but never actually heard the tone of it in someone's voice. He shook the thought aside, it wasn't what mattered.

"Friends," Nino asked as he held his hand out. Adrien smiled and shook it, "friends." He almost jumped with joy, suddenly the escape attempt seemed worth it. He had made a friend, an actual real-life friend. Nino was his friend. No matter how many times he repeated it he knew that it would never get old. He saw that Nino was about to say something else when a sudden loud crash cut him off.

The two boys scanned the room for the source but couldn't see it. Despite the apparent safeness, Adrien knew that something else had to be going on. He could hear footsteps on the ground that sounded far too loud to be coming from any normal human. He knew that people could be loud when they walked, but it was nothing to this scale. There was also a strange earthy sort of scent in the air that he was sure hadn't been there before. He knew that he should be able to pinpoint what it was but he couldn't damn rich hermit upbringing.

Another loud crash followed by several terrifying bangs sounded sending several of the teenagers under the tables. Adrien simply sat there confused and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the sounds. He tried to figure out if this was normal, did loud sounds happen generally in the millions of movies about teenage high schools? Were the people hiding under their desks about to break out in a highly choreographed musical number?

He heard an enraged scream of "Kim!" The person's voice sounded incredibly deep and far away. It almost sounded like he had something caught in his throat as well. However, despite the scream, the person was still not within his range of vision. The smell of earth had grown stronger though and he knew that the person was close. The booming footsteps increasing volume also ensured to indicate to Adrien that the person was getting closer. He knew that they wouldn't have a lot of time before they were upon them and while Adrien wasn't sure whether this was a normal high school occurrence he didn't exactly want to find out.

He felt Nino tug on his wrist to gain his attention. "Hey don't worry, okay? It's just Ivan, he and Kim must've gotten into another fight. It'll be okay, they'll fight it out." Despite Nino's attempted assurance something about it didn't sit right with him. He knew that fights happened, Tv had taught him things after all, but as far as he knew they didn't result in earth smells and booming footsteps. Something else had to be going on.

"I don't think that's it, Nino," he began unsure as to how to explain his reasoning to him. Plagg had explained to him the previous night that he had heightened senses thanks to the catlike nature of his powers so he wasn't exactly sure how much Nino could hear and smell. "People are sheltering under desks, is that normal," he questioned.

"First off, they're tables not desks. Second, this is standard procedure for an Ivan vs Kim fight they tend to get pretty violent and tend to throw things at each other." As if on cue a chair was sent hurtling across the room and smashed against the wall behind them. Adrien ducked to avoid being hit by the shards of wood but Nino wasn't so lucky and received small scrapes from it. "See?"

Adrien nodded despite his intuition screaming at him that something was wrong. The footsteps were all wrong, they were too loud to be coming from any ordinary human. Not to mention the earthy smell that lingered in the air, there was no way it was natural. Then something else was sent crashing into the wall which caused Adrien to have to duck and roll out of the way as Nino simply ducked under the table. He looked over at Adrien who was now out of the line of fire but further across the room and away from the shelter of the table. "Seriously dude, you're ridiculous," he said as he laughed. Adrien smiled and gave him a dorky smile coupled with finger guns. "What can I say, the camera's love it," he said dorkily. He knew that now was not the time to be joking around with his new found friend given that he knew danger was only a few steps away.

He looked around the room and saw several other students sheltering under tables looking bored as they played on their phones or chatted with one another. He wanted to scream at them to get away but perhaps under the tables was the safest place for them. Then suddenly the earth smell increased tenfold to the point where he almost gagged on it. It wasn't that it smelled bad it was just the sheer intensity of it which suddenly overwhelmed his senses. It forced him to put his head down as he tried to overcome the sensation. He could hear Plagg trying to tell him something from within the bag but his voice was muffled and impossible to hear. He forced himself to look up just in time to see another chair hurtling his way. He ducked and rolled out of the way and finally saw the source of the destruction.

Instead of Ivan who he had seen in his classes there stood what could only be described as a rock monster. He was about double the size of Adrien himself and sported a pair of glowing yellow eyes with a body made entirely out of rocks. Ivan, he assumed, didn't pay any mind to him as he screamed out for Kim and stomped off in search of the boy. Adrien knew from Kim's constant ranting that he had gone to the stadium for one reason or another, so he knew that he had to be heading that way.

He got up and left the room even as he heard Nino's frantic pleas for him to come back behind him. He didn't know what was going on but he knew that he had to talk to Plagg, Plagg would know. He quickly ducked into a supply closet and opened his bag allowing the small cat to jump out of it. Plagg's eyes glowed in the darkened room he noted absentmindedly. "Geez, I thought this wouldn't happen," the tiny cat growled sounding only mildly annoyed.

"What is happening though Plagg," he asked frantically.

"Remember how I said that everyone has a little bit of magic within them," he asked. Adrien nodded, he remembered the tiny cat saying that. It had sounded strange at the time, if everyone had magic why could only certain people use it? "Well that magic can be separated from the user," Plagg began before Adrien cut him off.

"Wait, magic can be taken? How do you even take magic," he wondered out loud. The implications of magic being taken seemed huge to him. What would the loss of magic do to him or Plagg, would it affect them the same way it would if a regular human lost theirs? Or would they be fine? Also if magic was being taken then that had to mean someone was going around stealing it right, but who would steal magic?

"It just can be and when it is the person is akumatized," Plagg explained.

"Akumatized," Adrien echoed in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means that they got akumatized."

"But what does it mean?"

"That they got akumatized, geez keep up kid," Plagg exclaimed.

Adrien stood up firmly upon hearing the information, or lack of really. He didn't know what to do about the akuma (or what an akuma even was) but he knew that he couldn't just do nothing. He had to do something. As much as he wanted to help he knew that he couldn't be recognised, if he were then the media would have a field day and his father would probably lock him up for good like some kind of freak show. There lay a problem, how was he supposed to disguise his identity? He was famous, his face was plastered onto billboards across Paris. He had no clue how to magically manage to disguise himself in a way that he would be unrecognisable. It wasn't like he could just put on a mask and nobody would know who he was.

Wait, that's it…. Magic. There had to be some way to use it to disguise himself he thought. He thought back to a series of books he'd read when he was younger and still held onto the belief in magic. He had vague memories of some kind of spell that could be used to change the appearance of an object but he had no clue whether the spell was fiction or what it even had been.

"Plagg is there a way to make myself unrecognisable with magic," Adrien questioned the small cat god. He knew it had to be possible, Plagg could shapeshift between cat and human. Surely making himself unrecognisable would be feasible.

"Just wear a mask nobody will ever possibly know who you are," Plagg drawled sarcastically. Adrien just rolled his eyes, of course, the strange cat creature would be unhelpful. Well excuse me Plagg we can't all just become a cat whenever we want now, can we? Shut up Plagg, you're from thousands of years ago or something what do you know? Okay probably being that old he did know something, but he knew nothing of how modern superheroes protected their identities, probably. It wasn't like Plagg knew about the Flash's and Batman's heroics or anything. Okay, don't focus on annoying cat human thing, focus on the problem at hand, hiding his identity.

"Plagg, please," Adrien exclaimed. He heard Plagg give out a long-suffering sigh.

"Fine. Just picture how you want to look in your mind and say the words claws out," Plagg sighed. Adrien wondered if Plagg was playing some kind of trick on him because it just sounded too easy. In the books, it seemed like magic required a series of complicated steps and procedures that had to be performed perfectly otherwise disaster would insure. However, he decided he'd take Plagg's advice because it wasn't like he had anything else to go on and he knew that the Akuma issue was probably time sensitive. He closed his eyes and tried to picture what he wanted to look like.

To be fair he didn't really have much of an idea as to what that was. In the end, he came up with some kind of cat-human hybrid look because he was pretty sure that nobody would suspect him as that and they'd probably more likely suspect that kind of look to belong to a hybrid than Adrien Agreste. "Claws out," he exclaimed running through a transformation sequence he totally hadn't practiced after watching hours of magical girl animes.

He took in his new appearance, or what he could see of it. The suit was reasonably simple being a basic black catsuit with a few defining features and cuffs around the wrists. His shoes had been replaced by a pair of black boots with silver tips, which honestly were a giant improvement from the bright orange converse he wore thanks to his father. To complete the look he also had a belt like tail, clawed gloves and a bell around the neck that he heard jingle everytime he moved. Also completing the look was a mask over his face because no matter what Plagg said masks were a fundamental part of any superhero outfit.

He felt satisfied with his new appearance. He slowly opened the door to the closet and was relieved to see that nobody was outside. He heard Plagg whisper in his ear in confusion. "Kid, what do you think you're doing?"

"Isn't it obvious," he shot back. Plagg responded by shaking his head. Adrien sighed. "I'm going to save Paris."


	3. Between a rock and a hard place

Two things happened to Marinette when the giant rock monster with Ivan's voice started rampaging through the halls of the school. One, Alya ran off to try and film him and two, mass hysteria filled the school. She didn't blame anyone for their reactions because truth be told she too was terrified. However, everyone running off left her abandoned with nobody but Tikki by her side taking shelter in a classroom. She didn't really stop to think as to why none of the other students choose to hide there, but then again she guessed that panic didn't exactly result in the most rational decisions. She hid under the desk hoping to wake up in her bed and to find out her entire day had just been a nightmare.

Unfortunately, she had no such luck. Instead, Tikki appeared before her in her human form looking incredibly frazzled and panicked. Marinette really had no clue as to what was going on when Tikki practically buzzed around the room in her frazzled state. She pulled at her hair and paced the floor mumbled senseless things under her breath. Marinette just barely managed to catch some of the garbled phrases that came from Tikki's lips.

"No, not again, not now. Not to them," the sentence fragments she caught made no sense. While they pointed to something similar to whatever was going on happening in Tikki's past it didn't exactly help her. She also wasn't entirely sure what to make of the final fragment, not to them? Who did she mean by them because she clearly hadn't been referring to herself. That meant that whatever was going on wasn't some demon from Tikki's past, it was an entirely new threat.

"Tikki, what is going on," she exclaimed hoping to get some answers out of the anxious god. Tikki seemed to snap out of her state and looked up at her with wide blue eyes. She immediately felt the urge to go over and hug the poor girl because the only way to describe the look in her eyes was haunted.

"I'm sorry Marinette, I never wanted you to have to go through this," she murmured just barely loud enough for her to hear.

"What is this," Marinette questioned.

"Okay, so I'll start from the beginning. When someone's emotions become unstable it leaves them open for their magic to be taken. However, without magic the human body cannot sustain itself, think of it like a puppet with its strings cut. Therefore there is a sort of defense mechanism in the universe called an Akuma. An Akuma will infect the person and link them to their own lost magic allowing the taker of the magic to have control over them, however, largely akumatized people are uncontrollable and tend to go after their own agenda," Tikki explained.

The explanation didn't really help Marinette grasp exactly what was going on. She vaguely knew from Tikki that everyone had magic but the fact that it could be stolen sounded completely unbelievable. However, through Tikki's explanation, it sounded almost like she knew what Akuma's were very well, had some magician stolen magic in the past she wondered. She found herself wondering more and more about the mysterious girl's history. "How do you know this," she questioned.

"It's happened before," Tikki said quietly with her head low to the ground. Marinette wanted to press her to find out what exactly had happened but then a loud crash was heard and she knew that she didn't exactly have time to waste. However, she was just a girl. She had no clue what to do about a monster. "I'm sorry, you're going to have to be the one to stop him," Tikki said still not meeting her eyes.

Marinette blanched at that. Her!? How was she meant to stop a stone being created by the absence of magic? Why couldn't Tikki do it, she was much older and likely actually knew how to use her abilities. Why couldn't Tikki take on the Akuma herself?

"I'm not a hero Tikki, I'm barely even a magician. How am I meant to be able to stop him," she exclaimed panicked. Tikki finally raised her head to meet her eyes. She put a finger to her lips in a hush motion and offered her a supportive smile.

"Don't worry Marinette. You just need to break the object where the Akuma is hiding then give it some of your own magic. I can't explain how to do that last part but you should know when the time comes," Tikki explained.

"I can't do this Tikki. I'm just a girl!"

"You're more than that Marinette, I believe in you, why don't you believe in yourself?"

Why not? Maybe because this whole entire idea was insane she thought. Seriously, she was no magician, she was no superhero, she was just a teenager. She didn't want to wait of Paris on her shoulders she just wanted to pass a stupid math class. However, she knew that she really didn't have a choice. No matter how much she wanted to run and hide from the Akuma she knew she had to face it head on, it wasn't like Tikki was about to do it. As far as she knew she was Paris's only hope. She took a deep breath and looked at Tikki with a now determined look in her eyes.

"Okay, but I can't go out like this, I can't do this as Marinette," she said. She knew it sounded cryptic but she wasn't entirely sure as to what Tikki's knowledge of superheroes and secret identities was. Fortunately, Tikki somehow caught onto what she was trying to imply and just winked at her.

"Just say spot's on."

* * *

When Adrien bounded off to go save Paris he really should've thought things through. There were a few things he failed to consider when he leaped off and threw himself into the heat of the moment. For starters, he probably should've been wondering why Plagg wasn't willing to take on the monster for himself. With Plagg's magic and likely ability to control it the monster probably would've been mincemeat. Yet Plagg hadn't shown any indication of wishing to take on the creature, yet he hadn't tried to stop Adrien either. Really, Plagg refusing to fight the monster should've been his first clue that maybe he was getting in over his head.

He also should've probably considered the fact the monster was well over double his size and probably ten times stronger than him. That combined with his own unstable magic that he had barely managed to figure out. He knew science, not magic. Yet he guessed magic was just a sort of applied science that nobody understood. From Plagg's description of his own magic, it sounded like he was a sort of applied entropy or chaos theory. He figured that perhaps if he focused hard enough and thought through how entropy worked that maybe he could apply his magic. Just maybe he had a chance, a small one but still a chance.

He ran down the street in his stolen cat get up. He probably could've tracked Ivan on the earth smell alone but he didn't need to. As Ivan had torn his way through the streets he had left a path of destruction in his wake. The destruction sent a chill down his spine, everywhere he looked there were overturned cars and shattered windows. Most people who had been on the scene appeared to have left but those who remained were covered in cuts and bruises. He had to turn away from the scene, it made him uncomfortable and sent fear coursing through him. He heard people call out to him but couldn't make out what they actually said, the words were muffled to him. He shook it away and ran after the path of destruction.

As he followed the path he caught sight of another masked hero attempting to follow the path. The masked person was a girl who looked to be around his age dressed entirely in a red suit with black spots. Her hair had been styled into pigtails and she sported a dotted mask to match the suit. He ran to catch up with her with a smile, at least he wasn't doing this alone. "Hey," he yelled out effectively catching her attention. She turned around and stumbled a bit before awkwardly falling to the ground. He cringed as he saw her collide, that must've hurt.

He ran up to her and offered her a hand up. Without hesitation, she took his offered palm and used it to pull herself to her feet. He looked her over checking that she was okay. She offered him a smile which quickly turned into a look of almost shock. He was confused, to say the least, why was she so suddenly shocked. She reached a rand up towards his hair which only served to increase his confusion. "Can I touch them," she asked awkwardly. She shifted from foot to foot as if unsure of herself, he didn't blame her he was unsure of her too.

"Touch what," he asked in bewilderment. Seriously he was getting more and more confused by the second, she was looking at him as if he had sprouted a second head for crying out loud. What was wrong with his hair, had he somehow got things caught in it during his run to the scene?

"Your ears," she answered. Okay, that was strange. He wasn't even sure if he had heard her correctly. For starters where her eyes were fixed certainly weren't where his actual ears were. Also as far as he was aware it wasn't exactly normal for a teenage girl to ask someone she just met to touch their ears, maybe it was some strange Parisian culture he had never heard of before? Maybe Parisians regularly asked each other to touch their ears and his father had refused to let anyone introduce him to the strange custom. If it really was a strange cultural thing he really didn't blame his father for getting him to avoid it. Seriously who asks that?

Despite his confusion on the subject, he found himself nodding. She reached up above his head towards his hair more than where his actual ears were. Okay, what was going on? Last he checked he didn't have ears on top of his head but on the side where normal human beings had them. Yet when her hand came in contact with what he assumed was one of the ears she'd been referring to he jolted at the unexpected contact. She jumped back and held her hand uncertainty as if afraid she'd caused him pain. Cautiously he reached a hand up to feel for the ears she had inexplicably asked about, to his surprise he felt them. Two of them sitting on top of his head. Too working ears that he could feel the sensations of.

He tried to contain his panic, him having mysterious ears was the least of his problems. Yet despite his thoughts, he checked his reflection and sure enough saw two triangular cat ears sitting atop his head. He had cat ears. Actual, real-life cat ears. Cat ears that twitched and moved like actual cat ears. Cat ears that were the ears of an actual cat. I have actual cat ears, he thought to himself. That's new. Very new. "I have cat ears," he said out loud through barely contained panic.

"I thought you knew," she said awkwardly as she stared at him worriedly. He almost shouted at her in response, how the hell was he supposed to know that he had two cat ears coming out of his head. Yet it wasn't like she had any clue that this was a new development for him. He tried to shake away his panic over the cat ears, actual real-life cat ears, that rested on his head. They weren't the problem at that moment, the problem was the stone monster raging through Paris. That was a much larger problem than two mysterious cat ears appearing on his head.

"I'm Chat Noir," he said in an attempt to change the conversation. He figured the name was appropriate given the newfound cat ears and the fact that all good superheroes are supposed to have a alter ego. Step one to being a superhero, somehow acquire superpowers through your tragic backstory. Step two, learn to control superpowers, a step he obviously hadn't yet mastered. Step three, have a cool costume and superhero name. He had that one down pat, Chat Noir was the coolest superhero name ever.

"I'm Mar-ma-Ladybug." He figured that she'd been about to slip up and tell him her super secret identity that obviously nobody could ever know because superheroes. Ladybug, he thought, that was a cool name. Not as cool as Chat Noir, but still very cool. It suited her down to her spots. Ladybug and Chat Noir was objectively the coolest superhero duo ever.

Names aside they had a super villain to deal with. A super villain that fulfilled step four of becoming a superhero, having an actual villain to fight. He picked up a discarded metal baton that was lying around with the logic of the fact he didn't yet understand his magic so he needed something to protect himself with. He turned to Ladybug and offered her a smile and a small bow. "After you m'ladybug."

She sighed and lead the way through the destruction. It wasn't long until they saw Ivan who had now increased to at least triple their size. How his size had increased so much Adrien didn't know, nor did he exactly want to know. All he did know was they had to deal with him and the Akuma before Paris ended up in ruins. How was another question altogether. "Any ideas," he asked Ladybug beside him. She appeared to be looking at him in a calculating manor as if she were trying to figure out some grand logic puzzle.

"Tikki told me that the Akuma will be in an object that we have to break. Once we break the object we have to purify the Akuma by giving the person a little bit of our own magic as we can't exactly return their own," she explained. Adrien nodded at the explanation briefly wondering who Tikki was.

"Well he's entirely made of stone," Adrien pointed out as he tried to spot an object on the Akuma. Then he caught sight of it, a small bit of paper slightly sticking out of his clenched fist. They had their object, the next problem was getting it off of him. Ladybug appeared to have also spotted the paper clenched in his fist as she too appeared to be trying to figure out a way to separate them.

"Chat Noir, distract him," she ordered as she turned tail and hid herself away. He worried for a second that she was about to run away and leave him to try and deal with the stone man himself. However, when he saw a pink light flash from her hiding spot he figured that perhaps she wasn't. There had to be some reason as to why she had told him to distract the monster so distract he shall. Finally, it was time for his talent of annoying other human beings, was an Akuma possessed stone monster really a human being, to shine.

"Hey stone dude, what's with all of this destruction," he asked unsure quite as to how he was meant to distract him. However, his shout did seem to achieve its intention as Ivan turned to look at him and approached him with pounding footsteps that in his opinion were far too loud. However, now with Ivan's full attention on him, he realized that aside from the baton he had picked up and his magic that he didn't understand he was actually defenseless against the giant rock monster. Great.

"Kim says that I'll never get to be with Mylene, so I'm going to make him pay," Ivan yelled out far too loudly. Seriously was it possible to get a mute button on life, Adrien wondered as Ivan attempted to actually crush him. No joke, he tried to squash him like a bug under his ginormous hand. He was a cat, he was almost a little insulted. Fortunately, he managed to dive out of the way of the blow within the nick of time, thank god for his younger self for taking gymnastics lessons.

"Okay, but nothing's set in stone, you know," Adrien fired back as he flipped out of the way of another attempted hit. He smirked at his subtle pun as he was forced to yet again dodge another attempted blow. Seriously, he understood that Ivan was angry but why did he have to take it out on him? He heard Ladybug in the distance groan at his pun, did nobody appreciate his superb sense of humour? Okay, right rock monster attacking you, maybe not the time to focus on his disappointment at the lack of pun acceptance from his superhero partner.

"What do you know," Ivan growled at him as he hurled a car at him. Adrien cringed when he saw the car flying towards him. Question one how strong was Ivan to be able to effortlessly hurl a car towards him at top speed. Question two why did Ivan hurl a car at him. Okay, maybe answering the questions wasn't quite as important as dodging the actual car, but in his defense, they were valid questions. He threw his body into a roll across the hard road just barely sliding under the car as it sailed over his head. Just as quickly as the first car was gone a second appeared, then a third, then a bus. Adrien was sent onto the defense in his desperate attempt to avoid becoming roadkill. He was pretty sure that his father would not be happy if he came home covered in bruises looking like he'd been hit by a car.

"Anytime now Ladybug," he called out as he flipped over another car as it sailed his way. What was Ivan's obsession with trying to kill him with cars, seriously? What had he done other than make some clawsome puns? "Seriously Ivan, I'm getting the feline that you actually want to kill me," he called out as he tried to hit away a car with the baton that came too close to his liking. To his surprise, the baton actually succeeded in putting just enough distance between him and the car. Thank god for magic, he thought. Of course, it had been magic, there was no logical way the baton was strong enough to do that without it, right? Magic.

"I'm not Ivan anymore," Ivan yelled out as he lunged, actually lunged, to grab Adrien. Was his pun really that bad that Ivan now wanted to kill him with his bare hands? Well, stone hands, rock hands, hands of indeterminate rock? At the time he kept up his cocky grin and a relaxed stance, on the outside he appeared calm, on the inside he was significantly less so. He thanked God for modeling as it was the only thing that kept him from outwardly showing how completely and utterly terrified he was to have an actual stone monster three times his size lunging towards him. Not that anyone would blame him for being terrified, seriously it's a terrifying sight.

"Okay, albite what is your name meow," he asked with a smirk as he slipped in the cat puns. Who could blame him for the cat puns, he was afraid, puns helped. Puns lightened the mood, an incredibly difficult thing to do when you have fear-inspiring stone monster attempting to kill you. Seriously, why was Ivan acting so stone cold. He dodged as Ivan attempted to grab him again, just barely rolling out of reach. He felt chills shiver down his spine if he hadn't moved when he had- no, don't think about that. Don't think about the fact you were nearly caught, Adrien. Focus!

"It's Stoneheart," Ivan- Stoneheart corrected. Adrien rolled his eyes, and people thought his puns were bad? How much more extra could you get, well apparently Ivan who got turned into a rock monster decided he just had to have a pun name. Seriously!? Okay, right he's trying to kill you, Adrien, don't focus on the puns. Focus on maybe actually not dying. Good plan. Don't die. Something that should've been super simple was seemingly way more difficult when you have 'Stoneheart' actively trying to kill you. Stoneheart made yet another lunge towards him, Adrien tried to step out of reach but instead found his back against the wall. This is it, he thought. He was going to die, actually die. Ivan was going to make him into actual roadkill. Goodbye cruel world. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for a quick painless death.

Instead of death, he felt crushing pressure around his ribcage and the loss of the ground beneath his feet. He opened his eyes in shock. He surveyed his surroundings, he was still in Paris, Ladybug still hadn't done her thing and he was still in danger of being killed by Stoneheart. Great. At least he wasn't actually dead, that was something. Small victories. However, he was now off the ground trapped in Stoneheart's murderous grip. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Right, save the puns for when you're not in danger of dying.

"Anytime now Ladybug," he called out into the street. He didn't know quite where Ladybug had disappeared to but he assumed that she'd been planning on using whatever power she had to somehow stop Stoneheart. Maybe he would've done the same if Plagg had actually attempted to teach him how to use his powers instead of asking for cheese and deciding to sleep. But no, he was powerless and trapped with no way out. Huzzah.

He saw her head peek out from the shadows, she was still reasonably out of sight from Stoneheart, hopefully. However, she appeared shaky and unsure of herself. Even from his distance, he could see that her entire body was tensed and her eyes were wide. Not to mention the fact that her entire body was hunched over itself in her hiding place as if to try and make herself smaller. Her face was blushed as red as her suit. He could tell that she was afraid, he didn't blame her he too was petrified. Hah, pun. Yet he guessed anybody would be petrified when actually caught by a stone monster. She was free, she could run, yet she didn't. Her gaze was fixed onto him, he could tell that much even from a distance but her body appeared to be too afraid to move.

"Ladybug, I know you're afraid, believe it ore not so am I. In fact, I'm downright petrified. You probably are as well, but I believe in you," he called out to her. Stoneheart roared in response to his word and Adrien felt his body being jolted too and fro as he tried to locate the girl he was yelling at. "You can stop him Ladybug, you will stop him, you just have to try. It's meow ore never," he continued to yell.

She jolted out of her stupor at his words. He saw as she jumped and looked around as if it were her first time there. Then she focused her eyes on him and nodded her head as if to indicate to him that she'd heard him. However, he really couldn't tell what the head nod was actually meant to be, for all he knew it could be some weird mating ritual, doubt it. She darted out of the shadows in a blur of red and black. Her feet moved so fast that he could've sworn she was the flash. She wasn't. He guessed that Stoneheart had seen her as well as the crushing grip around his ribs tightened and he was jolted around as he moved. Whoopee.

Her body slowed to a more human speed where he could actually see her instead of a blur. In her hands, she held some strange spotted object that he couldn't see clearly from his vantage point. She threw the object towards him and it wrapped tightly around his foot. Well, he assumed it was tight, he couldn't actually feel it between the pulverizing grip of Stoneheart. Seriously, the guy was big but why did he have to be that strong. Adrien felt like his lungs were being crushed within the grip and his breathing came out in short shaky gasps as he fought to get air into them. His chest felt tight, well he assumed it was his chest and not due to the actual tight grip he was caught in. Okay, given the fact his breaths were coming out in short gasps his lungs were probably being at least slightly crushed. He felt slightly dizzy as the lack of oxygen started getting to him.

This is it. No, I'm not going to diorite, he told himself. He was a strong human cat being, he got this. He was going to survive and he'd tell his future children how he had survived almost being crushed to death by a rock monster that decided to invade Paris, that seemed like a lighthearted story. Purrfect for children. Yes the children he would totally have in the future. The future…. Who was he kitten he was going to die. Like it ore not he was going to be killed by a rock monster, this was the end. He silently told Ladybug who he knew couldn't hear him to tell his father that he loved him- No. Adrien you are going to survive and you can tell him yourself. You are a strong independent cat human creature. You got this! Things aren't going to end in a catastrophe. Who was he kidding, a sinking feline was already filling him. He was going to die. No scratch that. He was a magical girl-boy, he would survive just like the main character in an anime. They always survived. He was also possibly part cat judging by his conversation with Plagg, like anime characters cats had nine lives. He would be fine. Absolutely pawsitively- dead. Very dead.

Suddenly he felt a tug on his ankle and was the crushing grip leave him. He was confused for a second before he realised that he was now sailing through the air. He had just traded one death for another, it was a good thing cat's always landed on their feet, he would be fine. As luck would have it he didn't land on his feet but rather collided head first with Ladybug. He landed sprawled out on top of her but really the girl beneath him was the furthest thing from his mind. He could breathe! He could actually breathe, air could enter and exit his lungs. He had never felt so relieved to be able to breathe, he swore that he would never take breathing for granted again. Right, he was still on top of her. He rolled off of her and onto his knees to give her some space. She also got to her knees and looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry it took so long Chat, I was-" he cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Afraid," he supplied. She nodded her head awkwardly. "It's okay to be afraid, Stoneheart is petrifying," he told her reassuringly.

"Says you, you took him on like he was nothing…."

"And I got my ass handed to me," Adrien corrected.

"You still did it. I don't know why I thought I could do this. I'm not brave, I'm not strong, I'm not courageous, I'm just a girl. I never asked for these powers, I never asked to have to fight," she said with her voice shaking. He cocked his head to the side, did she really think that? Sure he hadn't asked for his magic nor had he asked to have to fight yet he had both. He had thrown himself into the fight without a second thought, it was what was right. Even though she assumably also had magic like him she was under no obligation to fight. She could've stayed home and cowered in her room, yet here she was. She was fighting to save Paris, she had saved him. As far as he was concerned she was brave, courageous and strong.

"You can't really think that," he said nervously unsure as to how she'd react.

"I do Chat. I- I can't do this. I can't save Paris, I can't stop Stoneheart, I can't!" she exclaimed as she ran her fingers through her hair anxiously.

"You can, you saved me," he told her. She shook her head.

"I- that doesn't make me right for this job Chat. I can't do this. I'm not brave. I'm not strong. I'm just an ordinary girl. I can't. I- you should just find someone else to help you, I can't do it Chat. I- you didn't see me before. You were out there risking your life and I was too petrified to move," she said quietly as she continued to nervously run her fingers through her hair and pull on the strands.

"Yet you did move," he told her as he took hold of her wrists and moved her hands from her hair. He held her wrists tightly in his hands in a poor attempt at comfort. He looked into her beautiful bluebell eyes and smiled at her. "Ladybug, you are brave. You didn't have to come out here in the first place, yet you did. You didn't have to try and save me, yet you did. You didn't have to be a hero, yet you are."

"How am I a hero? I haven't even done anything. I'm not brave, I'm not strong, I'm not a fucking hero! I'm a coward Chat," she said her voice uncertain. He sighed, how did she not see what he was trying to say. Did she only see a hero as the stereotype provided by modern media or something, because he's pretty sure that she was aware that he knew she wasn't a white man. Did she think a hero had to be invincible or strong, did she really not understand what a hero was?

"You're a coward who saved my life. Ladybug, being a hero isn't about being strong or brave, it's about standing up when nobody else will, it's about doing the right thing. So what if you're a coward? You cannot be a hero without first being a coward. Everyone's afraid, everyone's scared about doing the right thing, it's overcoming the fear that helps to make you a hero. I believe in you Ladybug, you can overcome the fear, the question is, will you?"


	4. Sticks and stones may break our bones

She offered him a small smile at his words. She knew that he was right, he had to be right. She had managed to save him, she had made the choice to come here, even if it had been one guided by Tikki. In reality, she hadn't had to come, she hadn't had to save him. Nobody would've blamed her if she'd turned tail and run, but she didn't. She stayed. Chat Noir was right, she could do this.

"I will," she said as she offered him a smile. It was an almost beautiful sight as his eyes lit up with excitement at the notion. His beautiful green eyes seemed to fill with light and happiness in an instance, and god damn it was infectious. She felt her body relaxing and her smile growing larger, she had this. She grabbed her yoyo off of the ground and pushed herself to her feet as she took in the destruction Stoneheart had caused during their conversation. The street was in ruins, there was barely even any of it left and she was amazed that any of the buildings on it were still standing.

She had ordered Chat to distract him earlier, and he had obeyed without a second thought. He hadn't even questioned her as to her reasoning, he had just jumped right into the fray of things. She wished she had his kind of courage. The only reason she'd asked him for a distraction was so she could try and figure out where the akuma was but as soon as the fight had begun all of her confidence had been shattered and she'd frozen. Only Chat's terrified shouts for her had managed to snap her out of it, if it wasn't for Chat she would probably still be frozen in her previous hiding place.

"The akuma is in his clenched fist," she supplied as she tried to survey a way to get to it. She knew that she could ask Chat for another distraction and try to sneak up on Stoneheart from behind but judging by how moments ago Chat had been wheezing and seemingly unable to breathe she wasn't sure if she wanted to risk him getting more injured or hurt. Yet she didn't know anything about fighting or combat but it appeared that Chat did.

"Got it LB," Chat called as he yet again ran at the akuma as he picked up his fallen baton. Well, not his baton the one he had picked up off the street but really who would care. Chat flat out recklessly charged at Stoneheart appearing completely unafraid with nerves made of stone. Wait- LB? When did he have the time to come up with such a dumb nickname between his near death experience and their literal meeting only minutes before. Seriously? LB? Where had that come from?

She looked at him worriedly as he charged at Stoneheart with his baton in hand. She wasn't quite sure what his plan was in the situation because a flat out charge seemed just a little crazy, and stupid. Because honestly, who charges at someone who is about triple your size that literally almost killed you minutes ago? Either Chat was smart and had some kind of plan or he was just insane. She hoped it was the first option because his charge appeared to have some kind of purpose. Then clash! Chat's baton collided with the stone monster and was sent flying. So he wasn't smart then. She somehow managed to catch the baton from the air, but that wasn't what she really focussed on. Instead, her focus was drawn to Chat who was almost cowering at Stoneheart's feet given the fact he had yet again increased in size and was now approximately four times larger than her and 3.5 than Chat. This would be fun. :/

"Don't hit him," Chat yelled as he hastily retreated backward. She didn't blame him for trying to get away especially as Stoneheart yet again made a grab at him. She was pretty sure that he didn't want to yet again be on the receiving end of what had to be at least a bruising grip. She threw him his baton as he ran backward, he effortlessly caught it as he ran and dived away from Stoneheart. She watched as Chat yet again acted as a distraction.

"Stoneheart, you really have hit rock bottom. Why don't you pick on somebody your own size," he taunted as he dodged flying cars and even pieces of buildings that were sent soaring. Okay, how were Paris and Chat still standing? With Stoneheart rampaging both of them should be dead by this point. "Wouldn't it be boulder of you to pick on someone your own size? This is a bit tufa don't you think?" What tufa was Marinette didn't know but she assumed that Chat was probably trying to make a pun of some description. Or at least that's what she assumed given his earlier tirade of them. Seriously Chat, wasn't the akuma punishment enough?

"Someone needs to talc some sense into mew," Chat yelled as he rolled under a bus. No joke. Stoneheart actually threw a bus at him and by some miracle Chat had managed to skid to the ground and execute a perfect gymnast level roll beneath it all without getting injured. What even was Chat Noir she wondered. Okay, like her he was probably a magically enhanced superhuman of some description but what the hell Chat? Yeah she had magic too but that didn't mean that she recklessly dived under busses and antagonized people trying to kill her. In short, what the hell Chat!?

"Chat maybe it's a bad idea to antagonise the akuma that already wants to murder you," she suggested as she tried to figure out a way to get the object out of Stoneheart's hand. She knew that she'd have to use her magic to do it but she barely understood how it worked as it was. She knew that it revolved around good luck and creation but beyond that she really didn't know anything about it, let alone how to use it.

"Of quartz, it's not, but if you think it is why don't you chip in and help," he suggested as he dodged flying bricks. Seriously if Stoneheart didn't kill Chat she swore that she would. This was getting ridiculous, he needed to stop with the goddamn puns. Honestly Chat! Okay, right, don't focus on Chat's terrible puns. Now is not the time to focus on puns, or make them, really never is the time for puns. Right, no puns. Focus on the mission at hand. What was that again? Stoneheart let out a loud roar as he slammed into a building that was hopefully empty sending it toppling to the ground. Right- monster attacking Paris.

She tried to think through the situation. She'd managed to use magic to conjure up the yo-yo but she still wasn't entirely sure how she'd down it. All she'd known was that she needed something, anything to help her and the spotted yoyo had appeared in her hands. How had she conjured it though? She'd just been lost in panic and desperation for something to help and then it had appeared, maybe that was the key? She tried to focus on her desperation for something to stop the akuma despite the fact she had no clue what would stop him. Come on, you can do this. You did it once, just focus and you can do it again. Focus. Think. Chat said he believed in her, she could do it. Why was it so hard?

She watched as Chat Noir attempted to dodge the falling buildings and Stoneheart's lunges at him. He flipped and rolled and did almost every gymnastics move under the sun in his attempts to dodge and buy her time. What had she done to deserve a partner like him? She watched as buildings crumbled as they were hit and cars and busses alike shattered. Even the concrete road had large dents in it from the chaos. If she didn't do anything now, Chat and possibly the entirety of Paris would pay the price. But what could she do? She was just plain old Marinette. She was just an ordinary everyday coward, not a hero- no! Chat Noir had said that she was a hero. She had saved his life. He had told her that her fears were what made her a hero, she could do this. He believed in her, she just had to believe in herself. She could do this, she could use her magic. She just had to believe hard enough, she just had to focus on it.

She felt a tickling sensation rush through her body and finally settling in her hands. It felt almost like pins and needles in her hands. It wasn't exactly unpleasant just uncomfortable. Yet in the situation, she couldn't really afford to be picky. She looked down at her hands and saw that a faint pink glow had surrounded them. She could feel the magic as it rushed through her into her hands, now she just had to figure out what to do with it. She figured that maybe if she tried to focus on what she wanted it to create she could create it. So, something to defeat a giant stone monster. She focused all of her thoughts on trying to create something, anything that would work against him. She felt more magic accumulating in her hands and something solidifying in them.

Please work.

Then the flow of magic stopped. She looked at the object that had formed in her hands. It was a ladybug wind up toy. Seriously? Why a wind-up toy? This was magic, she thought bitterly. Shouldn't she have ended up with a sword or a weapon of some description, or even anything other than a children's wind up toy. What on earth was she meant to do with a fucking wind up toy, she thought angrily as she tried to scan the area for a use for it. Much to her surprise her vision had changed from the normal in colour form into black and white. When had that happened and how hadn't she noticed earlier? She'd think she would've noticed the fact that there was no longer colour in the world before.

"Anytime now Ladybug," Chat called as he flipped over her to dodge a traffic light that Stoneheart had ripped from the ground. She was forced to jump in the nick of time to dodge it as it rolled along the ground. Right, colour isn't important Paris is more important. To her surprise when she looked at Chat his hand and baton, how had he held onto that, lit up with red and black spots. She knew that whatever that was had to mean something, especially as when she looked back at the wind-up toy it too lit up with the red and black spots. However, she knew that there was still something, a lot of things, missing from the puzzle. She still didn't know what she was meant to do with the toy and how it was meant to help her get Stoneheart's akuma.

Then it clicked. If she wound up the toy and somehow managed to get it into Stoneheart's hand then the sensation of the toy moving against his skin, rock, stone, would cause him to drop the object. "Chat Noir, how good is your aim," she asked as she gestured to his baton.

"Purretty good m'lady, what's the target," he shot back. M'lady? Now where had that come from, where were any of the nicknames coming from? Seriously Chat. He'd been a hero less than an hour and he already had nicknames and puns to spare. Just what was he? And m'lady seriously, it's not like he was her knight in shining armour, leather, or anything. Not to mention that the suit he currently wore she was pretty sure was somebody at her school's fashion project that he'd stolen, if anything he was a cat burglar not a knight. Also, m'lady. It's not like they were living in the middle ages or anything- right! Akuma!

"Can you hit this into Stoneheart's fist," she asked as she showed him the wind up toy. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side as if to ask if she were joking. She didn't blame him, it was a toy after all. If someone told her to stop a rampaging rock monster with a wind up toy she would probably look at them like they were crazy too.

"That's kind of hard to do given it's closed and our angle. I'd need a better vantage point but once there I'm sure I'd be able to sink the shot," he assured her. She was surprised at the amount of confidence in his voice. Honestly she had the hand-eye coordination of a baby. She couldn't even hit a ball if her life depended on it, and currently their lives depended on him being able to hit a wind up toy into the hand of a rock monster. What even were their lives?

A street light rolled across the ground towards them as Stoneheart yelled at them again. "Face me," he screamed as he threw object after object at them. She was surprised he had anything left to throw given the fact that the majority of the buildings in the area were now ground level and all the cars had already been hurled at Chat earlier in the battle. Seriously, how was anything left at this point? She tightened her grip around the wind up toy and grabbed her yoyo tightly with her free hand.

"Hold onto me," she commanded Chat. He didn't even hesitate and just simply jumped onto her back like someone would when being given a piggyback ride. A piggyback ride with less chaos and destruction and less chance of death. Okay, so not a piggyback ride. She tied the yoyo string around her wrist and threw the yoyo at the highest building in the area. As the yoyo sailed through the air she silently begged it to latch onto the building. Much to her relief it actually did. She pulled on the string and allowed it to send her and Chat sailing through the air. While she screamed at the sensation of flying uncontrolled through the sky Chat cheered as if he were having the time of his life. Really Chat, who enjoys flying out of control through the sky to your probably imminent death?

Okay, so in all fairness, they didn't die. Rather they landed on the rooftop in an ungraceful heap. She was about to push Chat off of her when he moved off himself and offered her a hand up. She gratefully took his outstretched hand and used it to pull herself to her feet. Once on her feet, she was able to see that Stoneheart appeared to have locked onto their location and was closing in on it fast. She knew that they only had one shot to get the toy into his closed fist and she just hoped that Chat could make it. She wound up the toy as she watched Stoneheart get closer and closer to them.

"You ready Chat," she asked once the toy was sufficiently wound up. He held the baton up as if it were a baseball bat and shot her a wide toothy grin. She took that as a sign he was ready because if he wasn't then well too bad Chat. He was already an idiot hopefully he at least was being smart for once. "Batter up," she yelled as she threw the wind up toy towards him. Much to her relief he was, in fact, ready and did, in fact, hit it. It was a nerve-wracking experience as the toy soared through the air towards Stoneheart. In all fairness they had been aiming for his clenched fist, instead, the wind-up toy hit him in the face and kind of just walked around somehow perched on his nose.

In the end, it did have the desired effect as Stoneheart dropped whatever was in his hand to get the toy off of his face. She was about to go down and get it when she saw Chat out of the corner of her eye becoming a laughing mess. Honestly, she could barely contain her giggles herself. There was just something incredibly hilarious about a giant stone monster trying to fight off a children's wind up toy. She couldn't help but join Chat in his laughter, it was infectious- no. Do the hero thing and devilize the akuma thing. She used her yoyo to safely swing her onto the ground. She nervously ran over to the object, a crumpled piece of paper, that Stoneheart had dropped.

Her mind froze as she picked up the paper. What was she meant to do? Tikki had said to break it and give them a bit of her own magic, but how. How does one give magic? Apparently giving magic would purify the akuma according to Tikki but what if it didn't? What if she and Chat had risked their lives on a hunch. A hunch that turned out to be incorrect. Why couldn't Tikki have been useful and actually told her what to do? Seriously Tikki, how hard was it to say hey by the way this is how you give somebody the magic they need to no longer be an evil monster intent on destroying Paris. But nope. Thanks Tikki, she thought bitterly. She felt the paper between her fingers as she tried to figure out what she was meant to do.

"What are you waiting for Ladybug," Chat called out from behind her. When had he gotten down there, she wondered. She turned to him in confusion. She had no idea what she was meant to do. Tikki had told her, but the memory couldn't be pulled to the forefront of her mind. Also, it didn't help that Tikki had given her exactly zero specifics. "You don't have a lot of time, Stoneheart has almost finished fighting the wind-up toy," Chat supplied. Dammit, she thought as her mind raced out of control.

"I can't do this Chat, I don't know what to do," she yelled anxiously as she looked at him with wide eyes. She knew they didn't have a lot of time until Stoneheart would charge at them again but she was panicked and frozen. Her mind had gone blank and she just couldn't remember for the life of her what she was meant to do with the paper she was holding between her fingers.

"You said we need to break the object and give the person magic. I can break the thing if you want but I have no clue how to give magic given I only found out it actually existed yesterday." So Chat too had probably had the bomb dropped on him the day before. Did Tikki time it this way purposefully so they would have to fight the akuma and not her? Wait, okay, magic. Give them magic? Right that was something she had to somehow do. Okay.

"But I- I don't- I can't-I…."

"You can do this Ladybug, you will do this. I believe in you, you just need to believe in yourself. You can do it Ladybug," he told her with a bright smile. His smile was somehow comforting and she felt her doubts and fears melting away as she stared into his beautiful green eyes that seemed so full of happiness and light. With his encouragement she suddenly felt like she could do anything, even somehow giving someone magic.

She tried to do what she'd done earlier to call the magic too her. She tried to will the magic to flow across her palms and to tickle her skin. She looked down at her hands and watched as sparks danced along her forearms and the soft pink glow yet again surrounded her hands. "Wow, that's beautiful," she heard Chat murmur as he too stared at the magic gathering around her palms. She saw that all around her body except for her hands were surrounded in a shroud of rainbow sparks which turned pink along her arms. It gave her the same kind of enjoyment she experienced as she watched fireworks in the sky. It was incredibly beautiful to look at as the sparks harmlessly danced against her skin.

She then willed the magic to go back into Stoneheart- no, Ivan. His name was Ivan. She willed her own magic to take to him and purify the akuma as she tore the paper. The sparks shimmered along her forearms as they moved from her to Ivan. As the magic transferred owners a loud whoosh sounded. Then suddenly, it was over. There were no more colours dancing and twinkling in her arms nor were they any sparks flying through the air. There was just nothing. The Stone monster was gone and Ivan was now in its place, but the magic from the earlier moment had vanished along with it. It had gone into Ivan. She looked around to see that the city had also somehow magically repaired itself, it was like magic.

"Wow, that was…. Wow." Couldn't have said it better Chat. She smiled at him and held out her fist.

"Pound it?"

He smiled and completed the fist bump. "Pound it."


	5. Coup de foudre

After running away from the fight there should've been a lot of questions running through Adrien's mind. Who was Ladybug, where had she come from? Who had caused the Akuma and why? Would it happen again? However, instead of these important pressing questions, all he could focus on was the fact that he now had cat ears. He was a model, he couldn't have cat ears sticking out of his head. Sure, they'd been useful in battle allowing him to hear more and sense things more accurately but this was no longer a battle. He just wanted to go back to school, but that's a little hard with freaking cat ears.

He found himself sitting on a random rooftop as he tried to figure out a way to rid himself of the ears. It wasn't like he could just rip them off his head, that would probably hurt. Also, he didn't know how connected to him they actually were given that he could actually hear out of them so there had to be a link between them and his brain. He curled up into a ball on the rooftop as he tried to stifle his panic, he couldn't panic. Panicking wouldn't get rid of the ears. Of course, he'd known about them in battle, he hadn't panicked then. Yet again, it's sort of hard to panic about cat ears when a stone monster is trying to kill you.

His dad would kill him if he saw him like this, Adrien thought as he tried to get a handle on his breathing. His entire body would shake as he heaved in and out in his attempts to calm down. What would his dad think of him now? That question pressed on Adrien's mind. Ever since he was a child all he'd sought after was his parent's approval and he seriously doubted that his father would approve of the cat ears. He was meant to be the golden boy of Paris, with cat ears he couldn't be that. He would be a freak. He was a freak, he thought as he curled further into himself. His breathing came out in short frantic gasps as his panic increased. His father would kill him. He'd never see the outside world again, nor would he ever gain the approval he desperately searched for. All of this because he had strange cat powers that he couldn't control.

He hadn't asked for this. He hadn't signed up for cat ears and monsters attacking. He'd just wanted to be a normal human being, a normal kid who went to school and hung out with their friends. Now all of his hopes of that were shattered. He'd made a bad first impression at school and now with cat ears, everybody would see him as a freak and who wanted a freak as a friend? Nobody, that's who. He couldn't be normal with magic running through his veins, he could never be normal. He just wanted to be normal, he thought. He buried his head in his arms as he cried on the rooftop as silently as he could.

"Kid," he heard Plagg call out from somewhere nearby. He lifted his head and looked around for the cat god. He caught sight of Plagg in his human form with his black hair with the purple highlights bobbing a rooftop over. Plagg's eyes widened when he saw him and he leaped over to the rooftop where Adrien sat curled up as tightly as possible. "What's wrong?"

"I have cat ears Plagg," Adrien supplied. Plagg tilted his head to the side and looked at him in confusion.

"So?"

So? So? Did Plagg really not understand how little of a normal life somebody could live as a half cat half human freak. Surely he'd been there himself, why didn't he understand? Or was Plagg really so out of touch that he thought that society would accept him as a cat mutant. He knew that Plagg at some point would've been hunted due to his state as a magician, surely he knew the importance of keeping the secret. Not to mention the fact that Adrien along with the mysterious masked Ladybug had just sort of saved Paris and he was pretty sure that they would get some kind of backlash for their vigilantism so keeping the cat ears a secret would probably be in Adrien's best interest as he didn't want to get put under agreste at the tender age of fourteen. He wouldn't survive in jail. He had barely even survived school for crying out loud!

"So? For starters I'm a model Plagg, somebody is going to notice the fact I have freaking actual real cat ears coming out of my head. Also, what will my father say, he didn't even want me to leave the house. He'd kill me if he found out that I risked my life to fight Stoneheart, that is if he didn't first kill me for being a freak with cat ears," Adrien exclaimed in a jumbled panic. He spoke much more quickly than he ever normally did and he barely even registered the sound of his voice as he spoke.

Plagg placed a hand on his shoulder in what he assumed an attempt at comfort but didn't say anything further as Adrien slowly gathered his wits and got a handle on his breathing. Neither knew how long they sat on the rooftop as Adrien tried to breathe and to quell the panic. However, eventually, Adrien managed to calm down at least enough to breathe normally even if his thoughts were still spiraling out of control in a jumbled mess of fears.

"I don't know your father kid, but aren't they supposed to have the unconditional love thing going on," Plagg asked once Adrien was sufficiently calm. Adrien fought the urge to snort, Plagg clearly knew nothing of Gabriel Agreste. He would flip at the first sign of something going wrong, cat ears definitely came under that list. While there was no question in Adrien's mind that his father loved him he also knew that Gabriel Agreste was a man who often let his emotions get to him. If he saw Adrien like this, it would be a nightmare. He would lock him up for good and throw away the key for sure, that is if he didn't kill him first. He wouldn't do any of that because he didn't love his son, it was because he believed it was best. He had locked Adrien up within the pristine mansion walls for years because he believed the outside world to be too dangerous for him.

"Also kid, you do realise that you can make the ears go away right," Plagg added on. Wait, what? All of that panic for nothing. He could just simply say the magic word and they'd vanish, that was certainly some good information to have. Especially if this saving Paris thing became a frequent thing. "How else do you think I can switch from cat to human and not have any cat features as a human?" Plagg had a point.

"How," he asked.

"Magic, duh."

In the end, Adrien had in fact managed to rid himself of the cat ears by simply undoing the glamour which once Plagg finally explained after he got tired of Adrien's failed attempts was surprisingly simple. All he'd had to do in the end was say the magic words of 'Claws in,' not exactly the complex task he'd thought it would be.

He had run back to school with Plagg, now in his cat form, in tow. He ran into the classroom in a slightly undignified manner that left him stumbling into the pigtailed girl from before. The stumble sent the two of them to the floor.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry, are you okay," he exclaimed as he rushed to move away from her so she'd have space to get up. As she started to push herself up their eyes met. Adrien couldn't help but notice how vibrant her bluebell eyes were as she looked at him. It was like someone had put orbs of crystals in her eyes and shined a light. They were simply beautiful. He got up and offered her a hand. She sat there silently for a moment and looked between his outstretched hand and him. She crossed her arms and looked away as she pushed herself up. Adrien didn't blame her, he knew that she hadn't forgiven him for the gum incident and he didn't blame her.

Once she was on her feet she returned to her seat with a huff. He sighed as he too got up and took his seat. Nino tapped his shoulder once he was sitting and offered him a smile. "Hey, you wanna make friends right," he asked. As if that were even a question Adrien thought jokingly. Of course, he wanted to make friends, friends sounded great. Too bad he had proven himself as rather bad at that so far. "Well why don't you talk to Marinette about the gum thing," he suggested.

"But what would I say," he asked in response.

"Say whatever your heart wants you too," Nino said cheesily. However, despite the cheesiness of the advice, it wasn't exactly bad advice he thought. Yeah okay, he'd talk to her he thought. Just maybe not in the middle of class under the judgemental eyes of their peers.

* * *

Marinette looked out at the rain as she prepared herself to walk back home. The sky was dark grey and full of thunderous clouds. Raindrops fell from it in a never-ending waterfall soaking the ground and everything in their path. She knew with the rain pelting down that it wouldn't take long for her clothes to get soaked through if she stepped out into it. She hesitated as she stood on the stairs of the school, she really didn't feel like having to walk home in soaked clothing. However, she had no other way to get home or protection against the worsening weather so she knew that she'd just have to brave the rain and hope for the best. She wished that she could've just asked Tikki to weave her a spell to protect her from it but Tikki had told her that it would be too suspicious and something about unstable magic that she hadn't really paid much attention to. It seemed not even magic could help her in the weather.

In hindsight, she probably should've been smart enough to bring a rain jacket with her, or even an umbrella would've been useful. After all the forecast had predicted rain. However, she hadn't been smart, she'd shown up in her usual pink jeans and t-shirt. Not exactly the most appropriate thing for facing a rainstorm.

She sighed as she looked out into the afternoon The rain puddles shone and light reflected against the puddles to create a beautiful view. She thought that it probably would've seemed more beautiful if it wasn't the fault of the rain that continued to thunder down from the sky. She took a breath in as she stepped out into the rain. She felt the cold pellets hit her skin and her hair, it was freezing. Then suddenly, it stopped. She was about ninety-nine percent sure that she had done nothing to cause the sudden halt in the rain so what had?

She looked around to see no other than Adrien Agreste standing there getting soaked while he sheltered her under his umbrella. She stared at him in confusion as she wondered why he was shielding her. He'd tried to put gum on her seat, he was friends with Chloe. Why would he be nice to her she wondered as she tried to figure out his hidden angle. She turned away from him, mostly for show as if this were some elaborate plan she wasn't about to be made a fool of twice. Not by some snobby rich brat or her friends, no matter how handsome they were.

However, instead of a rude or teasing remark, he offered her a small sheepish smile. He held out the umbrella to her and continued to allow the rain to fall on him. She stared at the offered umbrella and back at him. His hair had already started to droop from the weight of the rain yet he didn't appear phased by it. It was strange she thought. He had no reason to be nice to her and yet he was willing to allow himself to get soaked when he could've just left under the shelter of his own umbrella.

He sighed but made no move to move the umbrella. She looked towards him wondering what he was going to do. He opened his mouth to speak and she expected some kind of mean remark that Chloe would make to come out but none came. "I just wanted to let you know that I was only trying to take the gum off your seat," he reassured. Hah, yeah right, she thought bitterly. If he'd wanted to do that she was pretty certain he would've gone about it better. She didn't believe him for a second, sure if he had been doing that it would make sense to tell her and didn't exactly make sense for him to tell her if he hadn't been. After all he was friends with Chloe, what business did he have apologizing to her? Chloe hated her guts and no doubt would've tried to drive Adrien as far away from her as possible probably even trying to forbid him from talking to her like the brat she was. This had to be a set up…. But how could it be? He was being so nice sheltering her while he stood under the rain. If it was a set up why would he bother to shelter her or apologize in the first place?

"It's just," he began uncertainty. She noticed the umbrella tip slightly in his hands as he resisted moving them as much as possible. She guessed that he like her probably was nervous and wanted to do something with his hands to dispel it but he couldn't exactly while shielding her from the rain. She stayed silent as she waited for him to continue his point, just this time with her eyes actually on him rather than anywhere but the blonde model in front of her. "I've never been to school before, I've never had friends, it's all just kinda new to me," he said.

She felt for him upon hearing that, she couldn't imagine life without friends. She'd been in school since she was 6 and while that meant she'd had to deal with Chloe, at least she'd had friends. Nino had been her friend throughout her entire school life and she was so thankful to have him along with the girls, Rose, Mylene, Alix, Juleka and now Alya. She didn't know where she'd be without them. However, her heart went out to Adrien who from the sounds of things had grown up without all that. It had to be lonely. She couldn't blame him for being friends with Chloe given that knowledge, if he'd grown up alone and isolated then he wouldn't have known any better. He wouldn't have known what a grade A bitch Chloe was nor would he have known anyone else so why wouldn't he have made friends with the only person he could. She felt bad for him now, things made so much more sense.

No wonder he hadn't thrown Chloe under the bus she thought. She'd briefly overheard his conversation with Nino where he'd admitted to not wanting to throw her under the bus because she was like his only friend but she'd thought it was just a petty excuse for what he'd done. She'd thought that he'd been trying to place the blame onto Chloe so he'd at least have a chance at making friends but now it made sense. It had been Chloe, of course, it had been Chloe. Adrien had been trying to take it off, he'd tried to fix it but hadn't been to school, he hadn't known how and she'd yelled at him for it. God, she felt terrible.

She looked at him smiling nervously at her with the umbrella still held out ready for her to take. She offered him a small smile and slowly took the umbrella from his hands. She felt a spark as their fingers touched in passing the umbrella over. She almost jumped out of her skin at the sensation, she'd been so rude to him yet he was ready to allow himself to get soaked for her sake. She didn't deserve someone as amazing as him she thought as she held the umbrella tightly between her shaking fingers. Suddenly it collapsed into her. She felt annoyed for a minute thinking that it had probably been a prank all along and she'd been stupid to go along with it. That was until she heard Adrien laugh. It wasn't a snide or teasing laugh like Chloe's it was gentle and soft as if he was slightly unsure of himself. Somehow his laugh made her feel that much better. It was the most adorable sound she had ever heard. He wasn't going to mock her or tease her she thought as she reopened the umbrella. His smile looked so genuine that she couldn't do anything to contain the butterflies in her stomach. He was so kind and just- she had no words to describe how she felt about him. She couldn't help but laugh along with him, his laughter was contagious.

"It's okay Adrien," she reassured him with a smile. She wasn't sure what she was talking about exactly. She didn't know if she was saying the umbrella situation was okay or if she understood about the Chloe thing. She really didn't know what she was saying just that her mouth was betraying her by blurting out random words that her brain couldn't keep up with. He smiled at her comforting words having have stopped laughing.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said with a dorky smile as he turned to leave. God, it had to be illegal to look that adorable she thought. Wait- he was leaving. She didn't want him to leave she found herself realising. She had actually enjoyed talking to him well not talking more just staring angrily at him while he sheltered her from the rain but she'd enjoyed his company at least. He'd made her realise that in fact, he wasn't such a bad guy. In reality, he was incredibly kind and had gone out of his way to show her that by keeping her dry and apologizing. Now because of his kindness, he was content to get soaked and freeze in the rain she thought as thunder boomed above them. She smiled as she watched him walk slowly down the steps with his hair and clothes already soaked.

Wait a second she should probably respond she thought as he walked. He would probably think something was wrong if she didn't or something. Well, something was wrong, he was leaving. Oh god, where had that come from she wondered. Why was she so concerned about Adrien Agreste, a boy she'd hated minutes ago. Now she found her heart fluttering when she thought about him but it couldn't be- it was too soon. There was no way she had a crush on him… was there?

"See- see-you to-tomorrow," she stammered after him. "Why am I stammering," she asked herself. She was pretty sure she'd never stuttered before that moment so why was she now she wondered. Suddenly Tikki appeared beside her in the weird Ladybug bugrat form she'd first appeared to her in. Tikki smiled at her knowingly.

"I think I might have an idea," she said with a smirk. Marinette could only laugh knowing exactly what Tikki's idea would be and knowing how true untrue it was.


	6. Scaredy cat

When Adrien walked home from school at the end of the day he knew that he was probably screwed. His dad would probably ground him for the rest of his life. He would become the princess forever locked in her tower, he didn't want to be a princess. He wanted to be Chat Noir. When he'd been Chat Noir he'd felt alive for one of the first times in his life. The high of going to school for the first time hadn't even come close to comparing the high of being Chat. He'd felt like he was flying, like he was free. He'd no longer felt bound by the burden of being an Agreste, instead he felt free to finally be himself. He could make his dumb puns without fear of judgement, he could joke around, he could stand up for good. All without his father knowing a thing. That was what made it that much better the silent fuck you to dear old daddy dearest.

When the Agreste mansion came into sight for a second Adrien considered running. He considered turning tail and never coming back. However, he knew that sooner or later he'd have to face the music. He'd have to face what he'd done, even if he didn't really see anything wrong with going to school. Oh the humanity, he went to school, he was a monster. He sighed as he approached the gates. He didn't want to enter them, he knew that once they shut so would all chances of his freedom. He didn't want to go back to being locked up in the tower. He wanted to go to school, to be happy, to have friends. He wanted to be a kid. However, daddy dearest didn't agree, he didn't think school was safe. Well as far as Adrien knew it had been perfectly safe aside from the monster attack but surely that wouldn't be an everyday thing.

The gates opened as he approached them, likely due to Nathalie. He took a deep breath in as he took a step towards the towering mansion. Don't panic Adrien, it's your house. Everything is fine, it's going to be alright. He knew he was being ridiculous, he'd fought a stone monster intent on killing him and Paris mere hours ago and now he was afraid to go into his own home. Seriously what was wrong with him. The likely lecture and grounding from his father, or more likely Nathalie, would be nothing compared to fighting a monster. He could do this.

Another step.

He couldn't do this. His fear of being killed by a stone monster wasn't nearly on the same level as his of being told off by his father. That probably said something about their relationship right there, but really what kid wasn't afraid of being told off by their parents? He knew he'd broken the rules, he knew that he'd be punished for it. He knew what he'd done was wrong. So... why didn't he feel bad for it? The only thing he regretted about it was the likely consequences, but really he didn't regret the experience. School had been worth it he thought.

Next step.

He felt his heart beating faster in his chest. He looked around frantically mapping out an escape route. His heart pounded in his chest. It wasn't a big deal, he tried to tell himself. He tried to remind himself that he had just fought a monster, his father's wrath was nothing in comparison. Yet it was that much more terrifying to him. He wanted to turn around and run but he knew that it would only make things worse. He knew in the back of his mind that his body seemed to be in fight or flight mode and it had chosen flight. Every fibre of his being begged him to run away, to leave and never come back, but he couldn't do that. He couldn't do that to his father. He'd already lost his wife, Adrien didn't know what would happen if he lost his son as well.

Another step.

Was it getting hot? His skin felt like it was on fire, why was it so hot? He knew that he hadn't done anything that would explain the sudden heat, so where had it come from? He was almost sure that his entire face was flushed crimson at this point. He felt Plagg silently nuzzle his hand. He wondered if Plagg also felt the heat that seemed to be overwhelming him. Plagg was a cat, cat's felt heat more sensitively right? He didn't know why Plagg was nuzzling his hand. A part of him wondered if the cat was trying to calm him down but a larger part of him suspected that it was more likely due to the heat coming off of him in waves.

One more step.

There was ringing in his ears. It was so loud. He couldn't hear the sounds of Plagg's quiet purrs or the wind whistling through the trees. Nor could he hear the sounds of footsteps against the ground or the quiet squeaks of nearby animals. Why couldn't he hear anything, everything aside from the ringing was muffled to his ears. Why?

"Adrien!" Someone's voice cut through the ringing and panic shocking him out of his stupor. He looked around to find the source, he knew that he recognised it. However, his jumbled mind couldn't seem to connect a face to it. He couldn't even connect whether it was male or female. In his defense though, he was dealing with ringing ears and hot flashes. His eyes fell on Nathalie who in front of the mansions door with her arms folded. Damn, she looked angry.

"Hey Nathalie," he said awkwardly as he tried to lean against a wall that wasn't there. He didn't know why he'd thought there was a wall there in the first place. He knew the grounds like the back of his hand but somehow he'd forgotten that in the middle of the path towards the doors there was no wall. Why would there have been a wall, who looks at a pathway and goes you know what's a good plan, let's build a random wall in the middle of it. No one, that's who. Unfortunately due to the fact that there wasn't actually a wall there he ended up falling to the ground in a mess of limbs. His luck wasn't all bad, he didn't end up face planting into the ground after all. He did end up in a sprawled out mess, but it wasn't a faceplant. He was talented that way.

"Are you okay," she asked, her voice an octave higher than usual. So she was in fact worried about him. That was nice at least somebody in the god forsaken house cared about him. Then again she could've only cared because taking care of him was basically her job and Gabriel would probably fire her if he got so much as a scratched knee. His father was overdramatic that way. Very overdramatic. Over dramatic to the point where he sued someone for changing his nickname on a groupchat (why he was in a group chat in the first place Adrien could only guess) and won. No wonder she wanted to check on him.

"I'm fine," he assured her as he pushed himself back to his feet. Damn, the sleeves of his jacket were slightly torn. He cringed as he looked at them, his father wasn't going to be happy about that. Then again he could just change into another one of his forty identical white jackets and his father would be none the wiser. First he had to face the music for his little escapade to school. He walked over to Nathalie and offered her a small shy smile. He wasn't ready for this.

"You're father wishes to see you in his office," she told him with the typical professional look she tried to keep up. Adrien sighed, same as usual. His father hadn't even been bothered to come down and meet him himself. Instead Adrien had to escorted to his office like he was some sort of client instead of Gabriel Agreste's son. He followed behind Nathalie silently as she lead him up the staircase and down the winding halls. The house was always too clean, too perfect. It didn't show any sign of being lived in aside from within Adrien's room that had been crammed so full of life. He was pretty sure that his room contained more colour than every other one in the mansion combined.

His father seemed to like keeping the mansion in a depressive state. First there was the ominous mourning picture of him and his father that you saw as soon as you entered the home. Seriously, who made that photo full size and hung it to greet everyone. He could've had a piece of priceless artwork or even at least a happy photo, but nope. Depressing mourning photo it was. Despite the home being well lit with many open windows, the painting sucked all the light out of the room. That combined with the fact that everything was too big, too empty the house felt more like a graveyard than someone's family home.

He felt almost like a prisoner as he was escorted through the halls to the door of his father's office. He always wondered why his father couldn't just do what any normal parent would do and just talk to him like an ordinary human being. But nope. There had been times when he'd had to resort to sliding notes under the office door as his father had developed a habit of locking himself away in his office ever since his mother had died. Adrien had always wondered what he did during those times but Nathalie had always assured him that it was important work and that he shouldn't worry. Well sorry for worrying when his father was locked in an office possibly not eating, drinking or sleeping. Of course he was going to worry.

He raised his hand to knock on the door. He hesitated for a fraction of a second before he quietly knocked on the door. He didn't really know how to feel as his hand connected with the wooden door. On one hand he was ecstatic that after weeks, maybe months of silence his father was finally willing to talk to him. Yet on the other hand he was terrified because he was almost certain that all hell would break loose once he entered the room. He didn't know if this time he'd be able to sit quietly as his father told him all the reasons why he couldn't be happy- go to school.

"Come in," he heard from the other side of the door. Okay, this was it. Either he would seal his fate of becoming a princess forever trapped in her tower or he'd finally be able to get what he always wanted. Or he'd just get yelled at. One of the three. He took a deep breath as he opened the door. This was it.

He took a step into the room. Gabriel sat behind his desk as he usually did with notebooks and pens cluttered across the table. Many rough drafts of dresses, suits, skirts and various other fashion items also hung on the walls. However, the one thing in Gabriel's office that Adrien would never be able to get over was the fact that it had no windows. The room was only lit by the artificial lights that hung on the ceiling. It was always so dark in comparison to everything else within the mansion. It would never matter how many pictures and sketches Gabriel tried to cram into the room to Adrien it would always be a dark and lifeless place.

"So I hear you went to school today," Gabriel began as he lifted his hands onto the table and folded them. So bussiness Gabriel then, Adrien could handle that. It wasn't anger, nor was it yelling it was just a typical business meeting. He could handle it, he hoped.

"Yeah I did, I'm so-" he began before his father cut him off with a simple raising of his hand. He gestured for Adrien to be quiet and listen. Adrien nodded. He knew that it would be better to keep quiet rather than risk facing his father's wrath. Especially given that he was already pretty sure that it would only be a matter of time before he did. While he had his battle plan of first antagonising the enemy then finding a way to get out of the situation before they killed you, that method didn't exactly work for Gabriel Agreste. How it would play out, start to antagonise, get killed before you finish your sentence. Honestly, Adrien wouldn't put it past his father.

"Save it. We both know that you're not in fact sorry and that you don't regret it. So spare me the drivel. I know that you've wanted to go to school for a long time and today showed me just how desperately you want it so I'm willing to allow you to provided that you take your bodyguard with you."

Adrien was sure that he was dreaming. Since when had his father ever cared about what he wanted, or even known what he wanted. He had always just assumed that his father's fears of the outside world were too great for him to allow him his freedom. Yet here he was, being actually allowed it. He felt on top of the world. First he'd gone to school, then he'd stopped a stone monster and now he actually wasn't going to get yelled at. Okay, maybe he was dreaming. There was no actual way that Gabriel Agreste would change his mind on anything, let alone anything related to his only son. So why now? Adrien wanted to ask but he knew that if he asked, if he pressed that his father could just as easily take the opportunity away from him.

He beamed at his father as he ran over to hug him. He wrapped his arms tightly around his father's back. It felt so good to have actual human warmth again. He hadn't hugged his father since his mother had disappeared, it had been so long. He knew that he was probably sitting there in some sort of stunned shock as his son hugged him but he didn't care. He was just so happy at the opportunity that he had to. "Thank you so much father," he blubbered as he hugged him tighter. He knew that his father would never know exactly how much school actually meant to Adrien.

* * *

When Adrien got back to his room he was on cloud nine. Not even the rotten smell of camembert cheese could bring his hopes down. Wait, where had the camembert smell come from in the first place? He looked around his massive room to find the source. He was almost certain that there was no possible way he would've brought camembert into the room. The stuff smelt and tasted disgusting as far as he was concerned. However, as he scanned the room he quickly located the source.

Plagg lay on the couch in his human form with a mouthful of cheese. For a being apparently thousands of years old he had zero sense of etiquette. Not only were there cheese crumbs scattered on almost every surface of the room but he hadn't even bothered to open a window to try and dispel the smell. Adrien sighed as he walked over to the window to open it. If the annoying cat god wouldn't do it then he would do it himself. He opened the window only to have it slam shut straight after. He almost fell back in his efforts to avoid having his fingers crushed by the falling window.

He sighed as he tried to open it again. Only to have it slam shut again. This pattern continued for a while until he realised that the closing of the window was by no means natural. He walked over to Plagg and snatched the cheese out of his hands causing the god to stare at him with a look of pure rage. "Kid, I'm more powerful than your pitiful human mind could possibly comprehend so I warn you now, give me back my cheese or else." Plagg threatened as he narrowed his eyes at Adrien. Adrien noticed how Plagg's human ears twitched subtly like a cats would and how his eyes were hyper focused on the cheese like a cat stalking its prey. Except in the moment Plagg wasn't a cat but rather an overgrown child.

"Then let me open the window," Adrien said in a business like manner. You didn't have Gabriel Agreste for a father without learning how not to budge on things you wanted. He was pretty sure that was how his father had managed to successfully sue the man over the nickname scandal. Seriously, there was no possible way that he should've won that case, yet he had.

"Give me my cheese," Plagg growled as he got up from the couch and glared Adrien down. It would've been threatening if it wasn't coming from a man with purple streaked hair who had just a minute ago had cheese stuffed in his face. Plagg was about the least threatening person he knew. Then again he probably should've felt more threatened by the cat god which did in fact have magic beyond his comprehension.

"Plagg, I know that if I give you the cheese you'll just shut the window again. I camembert the smell of cheese so just let me open the window," Adrien told him as he moved the cheese away from the cat god. Plagg growled and flicked his wrist causing the window to pop back open.

"Is that gouda," he asked in a low voice. Adrien swore that he caught sight of fangs in Plagg's mouth, okay maybe the cat god was more threatening than he was giving him credit for. Fangs were pretty threatening, especially combined with the glares and subtle hints of Plagg's intentions to literally pounce on him. He only knew this because he noticed Plagg's subtle shifting of positions and hyper focussed eyes. Geez he took loving cheese a bit too far.

"Yeah, it's just grate."

"Good, now give me my cheese," Plagg growled. Adrien smirked and held the cheese just above Plagg's head out of reach, taunting the god with it. "Kid, I could kill you without even so much as bending my pinky so I warn you now, give me my cheese," Plagg threatened. Wow, he was really serious about his cheese Adrien thought as he handed over the cheese.


	7. Magic always comes with a price

_Sometime in the 1400's_

As time went past, things had changed for magic users. In the past they had been hailed as god's, people had looked up to them and respected them. Then everything had changed. People had decided to scorn and hate them, why they didn't know. Not everything was within their control and why everyone expected it to be they didn't know. They couldn't control sickness, death or people. They weren't responsible for the deaths of innocents nor were they responsible for the sickness' that plagued the earth. They weren't God's, and that was what humanity learned. As soon as humanity realised their lack of control they turned on them, they scorned them. They killed them.

They had tried to run and to hide, but it seemed to be impossible. Everywhere they went to hide, they were found. It didn't matter if they were there for days or years, in the end, they would always be found. Even if they tried to hide on the top of Everest they would still be found, not that they could live on Everest though. It was high and low on oxygen, magical they be but they weren't invincible. They could be killed, it was just harder. As humanity started to try and kill them the number of magicians began to drop, and drop, and drop.

First Duusu and Wayzz were killed by the people who had once treated them as gods. They were backstabbed by the people who they cared the most about. The people they had tried so hard to protect had been the ones to ultimately stab them in the back. Other magicians had died as well, hundreds, thousands? Tikki and Plagg had lost track. They'd done what they could to protect Pollen and Nooroo, the newest humans to develop magical powers except everywhere they ran they were found. They just wanted to settle down away from everyone and just live ordinary lives, what was so wrong with that? According to humanity, everything.

They'd been running for years, none of them really knew how many. Plagg guessed it had been decades, Pollen thought it had been hundreds, none of them were really quite sure as they could never seem to stay in the same town more than a year and they'd been through hundreds at this point. It didn't matter what they did, who they saved, humanity was still out for their blood. They were in their newest town for the fifth time that year, it was a small town in England, or at least that's where Tikki guessed they were. They entered the town hoping to lay low and find somewhere to stay. No such luck.

Instead of their hopes of keeping their presence quiet as soon as they entered a young girl came barreling into them followed by what appeared to be an angry mob. The girl had tear stains running down her cheeks and her hair was matted with blood. "You have to help me," she cried as she clung desperately onto Pollen's skirt. Her tiny body lurched with every sharp inhale she took as she fought not to sob into Pollen. Pollen looked at the others in desperation, she didn't want to leave the child. They all nodded at her as if to tell her that they wouldn't. On the run or not, a risk of death or not, they would always stand up for those who needed it.

"What's going on here," Tikki asked as she took a step in front of Pollen and the girl. Her voice practically boomed and commanded the attention of even the most unwilling listener. Everyone stopped and stared at the new group as if seeing them for the first time. One of the mob's members stepped forward and narrowed his eyes at Tikki, in response, she narrowed hers back.

"She's a witch," he growled as he pointed at the terrified little girl. Tikki could hear the girl's sniffles and attempts to muffle her crying. It was obvious that she had been through a lot given the fact that she was so small and thin, it looked like she hadn't eaten in days. She was as thin as a bone. Tikki was almost surprised that she was even still standing on her own two feet as she broke down into Pollen.

"She's a child," Plagg cut in as he too stepped in front of Pollen and the girl. He stood beside Tikki and offered her a nod as if to say they would be a wall between them. This was something neither of them could ever understand about the witch hunts. It didn't matter how old the person was they would still be hunted and killed for even the slightest suspicion of them being a witch. All the children accused were almost always too young and weak to fight back against several adults over double their size. It wasn't just about fear at this point, it was heartless. To think that somebody could turn on their own child and try and kill them simply for having powers that they couldn't control was barbaric, yet it happened. It happened every other day around the world. Children, women, and men would be marched to the slaughter for powers they may not even possess. How many innocent people had died at this point?

"What's your point," the man growled as he made a jab at Plagg with his weapon. The man's weapon was a sharply tipped sword which Plagg simply took a step back from to be out of its reach. Plagg knew his way around a sword and it was clear to him that this man didn't so he saw no threat from the frantic man threatening him with a sword.

"My point is that she is a child. Even if she does have magic, that doesn't mean she'll use it to hurt you she could use it for good if you gave her the chance. Hell, she might not even be a witch, how many innocent non-magic users have died at this point after all? Who's to say there are even any witches left," Plagg shouted angrily at the man. It was no secret to Tikki that Plagg did, in fact, care about all of the people they came across even if he tried to avoid showing it to their face. Of course, she knew why he tried to avoid being kind to them and instead hid his true emotions under a sarcastic cynical mask. She knew that deep down Plagg was afraid to lose anyone else, they had already lost Duusu and Wayzz, why did anyone else have to die?

"Why are you defending her," another person from the crowd shouted angrily. This time it was a woman whose face was red and covered in sweat. She didn't appear very threatening to either Plagg or Tikki but they knew from experience that desperate people could do desperate things. They did a lot of desperate things, like murdering an innocent child.

"Why are you attacking her," Plagg shot back.

"She can do things," the man began.

"And you can't? Oh no a child can actually do something, the humanity," Plagg sarcastically commented with a smirk. Judging by the frown on the man's face he wasn't amused by Plagg's sarcastic cut in. Tikki wanted to tell Plagg to shut up, she didn't want them to turn on them too if they were killed the girl would be as good as dead. She nudged Plagg as a clear indicator for him to shut the fuck up. They had been in this situation enough times as they crossed the country, Plagg would make sarcastic comments and only cause the villagers to want them dead even more.

"Why do you insist on defending a child you've just met, surely you must know what she is. Can't you see it," the man asked angrily as he lunged at Plagg with the sword. Plagg just sighed and moved so he could jam the sword into his armpit in a way where it wouldn't hit or hurt him. With the sword now trapped the man went wide-eyed and began to shake. "You're one of them, aren't you?"

Plagg smirked as he willed his fangs to come out and his eyes to flicker to the natural green cat-eyed look they sometimes took up. He smiled a toothy smile at the man which caused him to let out a barely concealed gasp followed by a whimper. It had to be obvious to him by now that Plagg could very easily kill him as he not only had his sword but clearly had magic. Tikki sighed quietly, there went their chance of settling down in the town. Plagg pushed the man away from the sword during his stupor and flipped the sword so that he was now holding it by the handle.

He was about to leave when the woman who had spoken up earlier grabbed a sword of her own and lunged at him. Plagg held up his sword to block the hit and the two swords let out a loud metallic clang. The vibration of the sword went through Plagg's body but he ignored it, it was just the shock from them hitting. The woman swung again but hopelessly managed to miss Plagg as he took a step to the side.

"Get her out of here," he called out to Nooroo and Pollen who instantly nodded and vanished in a flash of purple light, so Nooroo had made the spell he thought briefly as he looked at their now empty place. The mob appeared to be in a state of shock but that didn't stop the woman from her continued swings at him. She was pretty bad at this Plagg thought as he was able to block her blows with little effort. "Let's go Tikki," he called out to her letting her know that she'd have to teleport them both. He knew that she could do it though, their magic was incredibly powerful, some of the most powerful in the world, a simple teleportation spell was nothing to them in the long run.

He felt the feeling of Tikki's magic rush him. He didn't know if he would ever be able to get used to the sight of red sparks and fireworks surrounding him. While the sensation of the magic tickling his skin was something he was used to from his own magic it seemed different when it was Tikki's. Her's was always warmer and made the world feel right again, her magic was beautiful while his own was dark and eerie. He blinked and found himself looking at Tikki, Pollen, Nooroo and the girl. They had somehow ended up in a small cabin within a forest that they had once stayed in years ago when a town had been in the area. They didn't know how the building was still standing but they weren't about to question it.

The girl appeared to have calmed down slightly and was currently curled up in a small ball in Nooroo's arms. Now that she wasn't in danger they could finally fully take in her appearance. She was small, tiny even, her ribs were visible through the clothes she wore that were far too big for her and were stained with mud and blood. She still had blood and dirt-matted in her hair which was, in short, a birds nest, but underneath the muck, he could see that it was ginger with white tips, not that the white was really visible through the blood. She also had bright purple eyes that seemed to almost shine in the shadowy room.

"What's your name," Tikki asked as she knelt down to the girl's level. That was probably a good idea Plagg thought as he watched Tikki as she smiled at the girl and didn't press for answers.

"It's Trixx," she said her voice sounding oddly lively. Her voice took on almost the same mischievous tone Plagg's did when he was about to play a prank on Nooroo or Pollen. He'd tried to prank Tikki but it usually ended with him being on the receiving end of it or hung upside down off a rooftop and neither were really preferable options. He was surprised at how lively her voice was given that by her appearance she had clearly been to hell and back.

"Don't worry Trixx, we'll protect you."

* * *

 _1606_

And protect her they did. For decades they managed to protect the girl as she mastered her powers in their small forest cabin. It had turned out that she was incredibly skilled in creating illusions and could also easily manipulate someone into leaving them and their area alone if she was able to focus hard enough. That skill was what had allowed them to stay settled for so long, but alas the happiness they had found wasn't meant to be.

It was a rainy day when it happened. Trixx had been left at the cabin while the others went out to get food, it wasn't an uncommon thing. They often left Trixx alone there as she wasn't exactly keen to forage through the forest for food, even if 'foraging' more often than not would be Plagg teleporting to an actual store to buy cheese while the others actually searched for food then promptly gave up and magicked it up. Honestly, Trixx could never see why they bothered in the first place when they could just stay at the cabin and magic it up there.

In terms of magic, Trixx was still a child even though she had lived for decades now. She knew that the others saw her as that, when they looked at her they still saw the small child they had rescued all those years ago. She didn't exactly mind it wasn't like they treated her as any less even with the circumstances. Plagg would play tricks on her and recruit her to help him prank Tikki. She and Plagg would often get into prank wars much to the annoyance of the others. Tikki would mother hen her like she did to them all, but when it came down to it she would still joke around with her and play games. Pollen tended to stay in the background preferring to study books and learn to fight, however, if Trixx ever asked her anything she wouldn't decline. She was the one who had taught her how to use magic and the one that had taught her to fight. Meanwhile, Nooroo was completely different. Nooroo loved her more than anything in the world and a day didn't go by where she wasn't reminded of that. If it came down to her or Nooroo she knew that Nooroo would always take the hit. Their relationship was close and they cared for one another more than anything.

With everyone out of the house Trixx had decided to use the opportunity to set up a prank to play on Plagg, after all, it was her turn in the prank war. They'd been at it so long she was starting to run out of ideas. What was a good prank to play on an insufferable cat human magician? She had already tried a number of pranks related to his cat nature, such as the laser pointer that had him banging into walls chasing after it for hours much to everyone's amusement. There had also been the spray bottles when whenever he said something cynical or sarcastic her and the others would spray him with a bottle for the day, it ended with a very soaked and angry Plagg.

Pranks aside she really should've been paying attention to her surroundings and the forest around her. If she had she would've heard or smelled the people who had intruded in it, the people who approached the small house. She would've heard the shouts of desperate people yelling that it was where the witches lived. She would've known to run. Yet she didn't hear any of this, she didn't smell any of this, she wasn't aware of it until the door to the house was kicked in and sent flying across the room. She looked at the intruder, she figured that it was probably just going to be Plagg doing his weird Plagg thing. She looked them up and down, this wasn't Plagg. Nor was it Tikki, Nooroo or Pollen, instead it was some random stranger who looked at her with gritted teeth.

"I know you're not the only witch here girly," he growled at her through his gritted teeth. She tried to figure out if she would be able to escape, the man had a significantly large mob like the one that had chased her as a child. There were at least twenty people within it, probably more. She knew from Pollen that her magic was fairly powerful but she had always warned not to use it against people, it'll only serve to make them more afraid. She had never understood that. Why were the people afraid? They were the ones that hunted down poor innocent children for sport. They were the ones that inspired fear.

"Other witches? Witch ones might you be talking about," she asked innocently. She smiled to herself at her dumb pun, Plagg would be proud of her for antagonising the people that already seemed to want her dead. She was smart like that. Step one, antagonise the enemy, step two, figure out some clever way to escape before they kill you for step one.

"Listen, little girl, this doesn't have to be hard on you just tell us where your friends are hiding and maybe we'll leave you alone," he lied. She knew he was lying, she knew a liar when she saw one. Whether it was magic or the fact his words simply couldn't be true, she didn't know. All she did know was that he was lying. He wasn't about to let her go, they'd kill her as soon as the others were lying in their graves.

"I'm not an idiot you know." She wasn't and she was insulted that he thought she was. She had been taught by Pollen, she knew a thing or two about strategy. It was clear to her that the man was simply trying to lull her into a false sense of security, that maybe he'd trick her into thinking that if she gave up her friend's location, that she didn't actually know, she'd be spared. Hah, yeah right. "Do I need to spell out the fact that I'm not going to help you because you must be pretty stupid if you think I wand even consider it."

The man clenched his fists and his eyes narrowed to glare at her. She just smiled as she leaned against the wall carelessly. She knew her plan had worked, he was livid as he charged at her. She smirked, now this would be fun. She focused on the feeling of her magic and quickly dispelled it around the room willing it to take the form of copies of her. Fortunately for her luck was on her side and they did, in fact, form human copies of her. She knew that they would disappear on contact but hopefully, they would confuse the mob enough to allow her to escape and find Tikki. She knew that she could teleport out of the situation but her teleports were always uncontrolled and never took her far. If she tried it she'd either end up hurt or defenseless only a few meters away so it wasn't in her best interest to attempt it. She slowly inched her way towards the window as her doubles looked at the mob threateningly all wielding various weapons that she herself probably couldn't use. She swore that one of them was even wielding a flute, seriously who fights with a flute?

Despite what had to be a terrifying mob of Trixx clones the other terrifying mob didn't really seem to care as they swiped at the clones which disappeared in a puff of orange smoke upon contact. Shit, she thought as she looked around the room in panic. There was no way out and her distraction was failing. Her friends wouldn't make it in time to save her, not that she wanted them to come. If they came Pollen would surely get herself killed for her and Tikki and Plagg would be on the warpath. She didn't know what Nooroo might do but she didn't want to know. The way she saw it the situation would end one of two ways, with all of them dying or all of the mob dying. She'd it rather just be her even if she was terrified.

She knew the humans were afraid. Pollen had explained how they were afraid of what they couldn't control and assumed them as the source of all the bad things in the world. She knew they had power, they had magic and that was what the humans were afraid of. But the magicians weren't the ones to be afraid of, they helped the humans in every way they possibly could only to then be hunted and killed for it. If the humans wanted something to be afraid of they should look in a mirror she thought.

"End of the line honey," Mr stupid said as he held up a sword in front of her eyes. She froze as she saw it glint in the light. That was a real honest to god sword. Not like the wooden ones she and Nooroo often trained with, that was steel. Stone cold steel that could cut through her as simply as she could cut paper. She shivered as Mr stupid placed the sword against her neck and smiled maliciously, she could practically see the bloodlust in his eyes.

"Why," she croaked out through her fear. Despite it only being a single word her question ran through the entire room and there wasn't a doubt about what she wanted to ask. Why were they doing this? Why her?

"You destroy everything, you cause sickness, you kill us off. You've killed hundreds of us," he told her angrily as he pressed the blade against her neck. Despite the overwhelming fear flowing through her veins somehow she managed to squeak out a response.

"And you've killed thousands of us! You're the monsters, not us. So go ahead give me the final proof. Kill me."

* * *

The other's got back an hour later. When they arrived home they instantly knew that something was wrong, there was a strange almost rotting smell in the air. However, they didn't really think much of it, it wasn't rare for an animal to get killed and left to another near their home, or even for Trixx to kill one on her own. She had an incredibly strong hatred for mice and if one even set foot within 10 meters of the property you could guarantee it would end up dead. "Trixx did you kill another mouse," Tikki called out as she entered the house. She instantly froze the second she stepped through the no longer existing door. Something was desperately wrong, it wasn't like Trixx to break the door. Sure it was possible but combined with the smell of rotting meat she felt that something had to be wrong. Plagg stepped in after her and scanned the room for the small girl, likely expecting a prank to be pulled on him.

However, instead of finding a trap baited for him they instead found Trixx lying on the ground with a pool of blood around her neck. Tikki immediately gagged at the sight, it was horrible. Trixx was so young, she was theirs and now she was covered in blood on the ground. "Tikki, wait outside, don't let Nooroo in," Plagg ordered her. She didn't need to be told twice, she didn't think she could stand looking at Trixx's body much longer or at all. She raced outside to the others while Plagg slowly walked closer to the prone girl.

He pushed back all of his instincts to run or to vomit at the sight, not to mention the smell but he couldn't. He couldn't do that to Trixx. Who knew how long she'd been like this he thought as he knelt down beside her and felt for her pulse. He knew just by the smell that the chances of her having one were virtually non-existent but he had to try. He owed it to her. He placed his fingers on her neck just beside the jagged cut that ran across it. The cut was no longer bleeding but he didn't know if that was due to the fact the wound was closing or she was out of blood. Or the other possibility that he didn't even want to entertain. As he placed his fingers on her neck he noticed that she felt colder than normal, a bad sign. He tried to find the familiar thump-thump of her heart but there was none, no familiar rhythmic beating. He lay his head on her chest knowing that if her heart were beating he would hear it that way, but still nothing.

Her skin was as white as an angel's wings, it was pristine, perfect, not natural. Her wide eyes still appeared alive and full of fear and it hurt to look at them. It hurt so much to see her eyes that had once been full of happiness and light so afraid and broken. Slowly he placed his fingertips over them and closed her eyelids no longer able to look into the eyes that had once looked at him in joy. He couldn't believe that someone would've done this to her, to anyone. A note lay beside her in a messy scrawl.

 _She said we were the monsters, that this would be the final proof. She was wrong. We aren't the monsters here, you are. No matter what you do you'll always be the monsters and we'll be the monster slayers. We are the heroes of this story and don't think for one minute that you are. You will not win, the villains never win. Remember witches, magic always comes with a price._


End file.
